Appearing on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning, liberal comedian and Daily Show host Trevor Noah surprisingly gave Donald Trump credit for his peace summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and urged viewers to “not hate on” the President in the wake of the historic meeting.
“I’m excited....I think this development in North Korea is really huge for the world,” Noah told co-host Gayle King. The usual Trump critic added: “I think people have to take this opportunity to not hate on Donald Trump and go, hey, he took a step. He took a step forward towards peace...”
Predictably, Noah also tried to give Barack Obama credit for the Korean peace process: “...and if anything, he [Trump] furthered Obama’s goal. That’s what Obama said he would do, he said he would talk to America's enemies, not just America’s friends – ” King interjected: “And he was criticized for it.” Noah replied: “Yeah, and he was.”
The Comedy Central host continued:
I think it’s really great that Donald Trump said, “Hey, man, that’s a good idea. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do that. I’m going to speak to our enemies.” And he may have surprised South Korea by stopping, you know, the military exercises on the border, but you know, clearly this is part of a larger plan. And I guess if Obama was also going to do it, then there’s some thinking behind this.
Noah concluded: “So it’s an exciting time, we’ll see where it takes the world.”
Despite his attempt to praise the former Democratic president for a Trump administration accomplishment, Noah was clearly willing to applaud the current commander-in-chief’s efforts.
The possibility of a significant diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea has placed the left and its media allies in an awkward position. They are torn between their instinct to attack Trump and the reality that he might attain a major foreign policy achievement.
Here is a transcript of the June 12 exchange:
8:43 AM ET
GAYLE KING: Trevor Noah joins us at the table with your heart intact. Good to see you, Trevor.
TREVOR NOAH: Good morning, everyone. Great to see you all again.
KING: Really good to see you. So we want to talk about the book and the project, because the audible book is fantastic. But I really want to get your take on what’s happened today because you’ve been talking about it all week.
NOAH: Right, right.
KING: For the past week. What do you make of what’s happened?
NOAH: Well, I’m excited. I mean, you know, this – I think this development in North Korea is really huge for the world. I think people have to take this opportunity to not hate on Donald Trump and go, hey, he took a step. He took a step forward towards peace, and if anything, he furthered Obama’s goal. That’s what Obama said he would do, he said he would talk to America's enemies, not just America’s friends –
KING: And he was criticized for it.
NOAH: Yeah, and he was. I think it’s really great that Donald Trump said, “Hey, man, that’s a good idea. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do that. I’m going to speak to our enemies.” And he may have surprised South Korea by stopping, you know, the military exercises on the border, but you know, clearly this is part of a larger plan. And I guess if Obama was also going to do it, then there’s some thinking behind this. So it’s an exciting time, we’ll see where it takes the world.
KING: Conversation’s just beginning.
(...)
