During an interview with Matt Wilstein of The Daily Beast website, Trevor Noah -- host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central -- declared that he doubts Donald Trump “has the balls to go on a show where people don't like him.”
Wilstein noted that even after the Republican president became the occupant of the White House a month ago, the liberal comedian “is still here, still tearing into Trump four nights a week and delivering the program's highest monthly ratings since his debut in October of 2015, an average of 1.4 million viewers a night in January.”
After stating that Trump “has been a barely disguised blessing” for Noah, the interviewer asked if his claim that the show would “spread its wings a little bit more” actually happened.
The comedian replied:
Well, for now it’s been chaotic. But you know what’s interesting? Trump has actually brought that closer to me than I thought because he has involved the world in everything. So what Donald Trump has done, unwittingly, is he has gotten America involved in world politics in a way I don’t think he even imagined.
So now we can do stories including the Japanese prime minister. Now we can talk a little more about what's happening in Canada in relation to the U.S. We can talk a little bit more about what’s happening with Theresa May in the U.K. and how she’s dealing with Brexit because she’s meeting with Donald Trump.
“Since Trump took office,” Wilstein claimed, “not only are The Daily Show’s ratings way up, but Stephen Colbert [on CBS] has overtaken Jimmy Fallon [on NBC], and Saturday Night Live has its best ratings in years. Why do you think viewers are so hungry for political comedy right now?”
“I think it’s because a lot of people weren’t interested beforehand,” Noah replied. “We always forget -- everyone goes, half the country is Republican, half the country is Democrat. No, half the voters are Republican, half the voters are Democrat.”
“The majority of the country, the bigger chunk than half, just doesn’t vote,” he continued. “So there is this huge group of people who were just not interested. And then Trump comes in, and he starts affecting everybody.”
“And now, whether you think you’re involved in politics or not, when a travel ban hits, you cannot say: 'I’m not political.'” Noah added. “When the effects of Trump’s laws start kicking in, you can’t say: 'Oh, I’m not really into politics.'”
“How has your job changed so far under the Trump presidency?” Wilstein then asked.
“My job changed from the time Trump won the election,” Noah responded. “We stepped up. I know I changed gears because the thing I struggled with trying to explain to people before the election was: 'Why do you want me to be angry?' … '[Y]ou cannot exist in a constant state of outrage when nothing is actually happening.'”
“I know that if you are a Muslim person now in America, before you were on edge,” he noted, “but now you are terrified because you’re seeing these dominoes fall toward a point where you are labeled an enemy of the state. If you are an immigrant or a child of immigrants in America right now, you are not in a comfortable space.”
Nevertheless, Wilstein asked: “Do you feel outraged?”
“There are moments,” the host noted. “It’s weird because it fluctuates between outrage and incredulousness and shock and disgust and disbelief. It’s a range of emotions every single day” before asserting: “This is like an apocalypse riding in a clown car. I don’t even know how to feel about this.”
The interviewer also asked: “How do you think the media is doing so far” at covering Trump?
“I think the media is stepping up,” the liberal comedian replied. “I won’t lie. … News should be news, and whether the president likes you or not, you should be delivering the same news" while there are “a lot of great journalists who are doing a lot of great work out there.”
“Do you think Trump will ever appear on The Daily Show?” Wilstein inquired.
Noah responded:
I doubt it. Trump is in a world where he truly only wants to associate himself with people that like him. And so, unless The Daily Show turned around and said, “We’re really sorry, Trump; you’re actually a really great leader,” I don’t think we’ll ever see him coming on the show.
I don’t think Trump has the balls to go on a show where people don’t like him.
Interestingly, Noah overlooked a likely reason ratings have gone up for liberal programs like his: The Democrats who wanted Hillary Clinton elected president are now looking for anyone to slam Trump any time of day or night.
