Yikes, Jim Acosta. When The Daily Show is mocking you alongside the President, it’s safe to say that you’re having a rough time in the credibility department. Thursday night on Comedy Central, Daily Show host Trevor Noah was exasperated that CNN’s chief White House correspondent lashed out at reality show celebrity Kim Kardashian West for meeting with President Trump to talk criminal justice reform and pardoning a jailed great-grandmother.
Noah described the Kardashian visit as the “[w]eirdest episode..ever” of her family’s E! reality TV show, but pointed out that “while many people applauded Kim for lobbying the President on behalf of an incarcerated great grandmother, not everyone was happy to see her in the Oval Office.”
He then aired the clip in question of Acosta from the May 30 afternoon edition of CNN Newsroom:
The fact that Kim Kardashian is here at the White House today and what planet that is anything resembling normal because it's not. She shouldn't be here talking about prison reform. It's very nice that she is here, but that's not a serious thing to have happened here at the White House.
With a look of utter bafflement, Noah exclaimed: “Really? She shouldn’t be here?”
Noah continued by ribbing Acosta for having it occur to him that: “You think Kim Kardashian brings down Donald Trump’s Oval Office? Is that what you think? What could she do to make him worse than he already is? What could she do?”
Here’s the rest of Noah’s riff, joking that Kardashian could actually help Trump be a better President:
Like, if anything, I want her to stay there longer. She could probably teach Donald Trump about diplomacy. Like, she could hopefully be “like, you should, like, treat China the same way we treat Blac Chyna because she's an outsider, no one trusts her but we've learned to co-exist.” [LAUGHTER] Now, Kim — Kim was at the White House to discuss the release of one specific person, but whether she planned it or not, her visit has put a spotlight on harsh sentences for drug crimes, you know, in the same way her sex tape put a spotlight on Ray J.'s music career, another terrible thing that many people didn’t know existed. [LAUGHTER]
Earlier in the bit, Noah admitted that she “met with President...and turns out she was there for something legit.” He also quipped that the photo of Kardashian and the President gave him another chance to “try to decide if the other person would be a better president than him and pretty much every single time the answer is yes.”
Droves of celebrities met with Barack Obama while he was in office, but Acosta didn’t seem to have a problem. But here? It’s a case of “Democracy Dies in Darkness”....oh, right, wrong news outlet.
(h/t: Mediaite)
To see the relevant transcript from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show on May 31, click “expand.”
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show
May 31, 2018
11:04 p.m. Eastern
TREVOR NOAH: And speaking of welcome to 2018, yesterday Kim Kardashian made a visit to the White House for a one-on-one meeting with President Trump and I know — I know that some of you are thinking “I can't believe this reality show moron is in the oval office, but don't forget, he was elected by the American people.” So show some respect. [LAUGHTER] And, you know, I don't know about you but whenever I see a photo of someone next to Donald Trump in the Oval Office, I always play a game where I try to decide if the other person would be a better president than him and pretty much every single time the answer is yes. [TRUMP PHOTO WITH KIM KARDASHIAN] Like in this one, yes. That one? [LAUGHTER] Yeah, yeah, yeah. [TRUMP WITH MELANIA] And this one — and this one over here, definitely. Yeah, definitely. [TRUMP PHOTO WITH KIDS IN HALLOWEEN COSTUMES] Yeah, because at least they're not allowed on Twitter yet. Yeah, it would work and, honestly, I'm not surprised to see Kim Kardashian meeting with with Donald Trump. These two have so much in common. They’re both reality stars. They’re both big on social media, Kanye loves both of them. [LAUGHTER] They believe employing everyone in their family no matter how useless they are. So, it makes sense, Kim Kardashian West met with President Trump yesterday and turns out she was there for something legit.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE [on NBC Nightly News, 05/30/18]: Kim Kardashian at the White House for reasons you may not expect. The reality star lobbying for a pardon for convicted drug trafficker and great grandmother whose cause has caught her eye.
STEPHANIE GOSK [on NBC Nightly News, 05/30/18]: After 21 years in a federal prison on drug charges, Kim Kardashian wants President Trump to grant 62-year-old great grandmother Alice Marie Johnson a pardon. Kardashian took up Johnson’s cause months ago.
KIM KARDASHIAN WEST [on Mic.com video]: She spent over two decades behind bars. I think that she really deserves a second chance at life.
NOAH: Weirdest episode of the Kardashians ever and, now, while many people applauded Kim for lobbying the President on behalf of an incarcerated great grandmother, not everyone was happy to see her in the Oval Office.
JIM ACOSTA [on CNN Newsroom, 05/30/18]: The fact that Kim Kardashian is here at the White House today and what planet that is anything resembling normal because it's not. She shouldn't be here talking about prison reform. It's very nice that she is here, but that's not a serious thing to have happened here at the White House.
NOAH: Really? She shouldn't be here? You think Kim Kardashian brings down Donald Trump’s Oval Office? Is that what you think? What could she do to make him worse than he already is? What could she do? Like, if anything, I want her to stay there longer. She could probably teach Donald Trump about diplomacy. Like, she could hopefully be “like, you should, like, treat China the same way we treat Blac Chyna because she's an outsider, no one trusts her but we've learned to co-exist.” [LAUGHTER] Now, Kim — Kim was at the White House to discuss the release of one specific person, but whether she planned it or not, her visit has put a spotlight on harsh sentences for drug crimes, you know, in the same way her sex tape put a spotlight on Ray J.'s music career, another terrible thing that many people didn’t know existed. [LAUGHTER] So, the big question is, did Kim Kardashian successfully convince Trump to use his pardon powers? And the answer is, yes. Although, as always with any Kardashian story, there's a big but. [MOVES ONTO DINESH D’SOUZA PARDON]
