On Tuesday’s Daily Show, host Trevor Noah brought in correspondent Michael Kosta to weigh in on President Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian President and subsequent impeachment inquiry. Kosta sarcastically attempted to defend President Trump’s behavior by saying he does not know right from wrong due to his “moral blindness.”
Noah began by regurgitating the liberal spin about “the favor” President Trump asked of Ukrainian President Zelensky; implying that this “favor” involved digging up dirt on his potential rival Joe Biden. In actuality, the transcript of the phone call released by the President last week demonstrates that the “favor” merely entailed getting to the bottom of “what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine.”
After introducing Kosta, Noah asked: “why did the President think this was such a perfect call? Like, how did he not see that what he did was wrong?” Kosta responded that “Trump didn’t do anything wrong, adding “to do wrong, you have to know what’s right.” He continued to sarcastically defend President Trump despite the fact that he clearly believed he committed a wrongdoing during his phone call with Zelensky.
A bit later and after another sarcastic quip that “Trump doesn’t know right from wrong so technically, he can’t do anything wrong,” Kosta complained that “America voted to let this morally blind man drive the presidency and now we have no choice but to sit in the back seat and pray he doesn’t crash into too many old ladies.”
Dabbling in conspiracy theory territory, Kosta contended that “moral blindness” is “genetic to the whole Trump family” because “Robert Mueller let Don Jr. off the hook for colluding with Russia because he didn’t know colluding with Russia was a crime.” Apparently, Kosta either did not get the memo that the Mueller report found “no collusion” or he simply refused to accept that fact.
When Noah pushed back on the idea that “Trump shouldn’t be punished because he doesn’t know any better,” Kosta suggested that “if ignorance is the ultimate legal defense, then we should all strive to be as ignorant as possible.” He also joked (if one could even call it so) that he has “been unlearning to read” so he will not get into trouble for “not paying my bills, or ignoring divorce papers or disregarding restraining orders from Denny’s.”
While Kosta’s analysis caught Noah off guard, it was quite clear that Noah and his audience believe that President Trump committed impeachable offenses. It looks like Noah and his correspondents will continue to advance the liberal media narrative that President Trump broke the law one way or another.
Help fight back against the media’s impeachment crusade.
A transcript of the relevant portion of Tuesday’s Daily Show is below. Click “expand” to read more.
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
10/01/19
11:19 PM
TREVOR NOAH: Welcome back to The Daily Show.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
NOAH: The President is facing impeachment and it’s all because of this call with the President of Ukraine; which makes it even stranger that Trump is the one who released the transcript of that call, where we clearly see him asking Zelensky for the favor. But now, we’re finding out that his people told him not to release that transcript because even they knew how bad it looked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
KRISTEN HOLMES: There are a lot of White House aides who did not want this transcript to be released. Many argued against it.
ASHLEY PARKER: They worried that putting it out would be problematic for the President; it wouldn’t be as good for him as he expected. You had a real internal debate. You had Secretaries Mnuchin and Pompeo arguing against it privately and also publicly. He believed that releasing the transcript would…would exonerate him, would be exculpatory.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The conversation, by the way, was absolutely perfect. It was a beautiful, warm, nice conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
NOAH: You know, I can safely say I’ve never heard someone talk about a phone conversation that way. “Absolutely perfect, beautiful and warm!”
(LAUGHTER)
NOAH: Like, I actually feel bad for every other call Trump has to make from now on. It will never…it will never live up to that standard. He’ll be on the phone with like the leader of Spain and he’ll just be, like…he’ll be like “well, Donald, I just want to say thank you for the time. I think we can all agree this was a great call.” He’s like “actually, it was just okay…”
(LAUGHTER)
NOAH: “…because you should have heard my call with Ukraine, so perfect, so beautiful, it was like the Ivanka of calls.”
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
NOAH: “This call, this call, on the other hand, is more like an Eric; totally an Eric call. It’s mine, but I’m not a big fan.”
(LAUGHTER)
NOAH: So, for more on the decision to release the call, let’s talk to a man who makes elicit phone calls all the time, Michael Kosta, everybody!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
NOAH: Welcome, Michael. This…this call, Michael, seems to be the thing…
MICHAEL KOSTA: Yeah.
NOAH: …that could get Donald Trump impeached.
MICHAEL KOSTA: Yeah, Trevor, Trump is in trouble, which I understand better than anyone. I was once impeached out of a Denny’s at 3:00 A.M.
(LAUGHTER)
NOAH: So, you were kicked out of a Denny’s?
KOSTA: Yes, but impeachment sounds classier so…
(LAUGHTER)
NOAH: Okay. Michael, here’s my question though. Clearly, Trump’s aides tend didn’t want this transcript to be released. Right? So, so, so why did the President think this was such a perfect call? Like, how did he not see that what he did was wrong?
KOSTA: Well, it’s simple, Trevor, because Trump didn’t do anything wrong.
NOAH: Wait, what?
KOSTA: Yeah, Trevor, to do wrong you have to know what’s right. In…in the same way that without darkness, can you really have light? With…without the weak, is there might? Without a gym, could there be a Dwight?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
NOAH: Please don’t…don’t, don’t, don’t encourage him. Kosta, everyone…everyone agrees that the United States President asking a foreign leader to dig up dirt on his political rival is wrong.
KOSTA: Okay, but Trump doesn’t know right from wrong so technically he can’t do anything wrong. You can’t blame a blind man for driving on the wrong side of the road so you can’t blame a morally blind man for committing crimes.
NOAH: Yeah, well, I certainly wouldn’t let a blind man drive.
KOSTA: Wow…racist but…
(LAUGHTER)
KOSTA: But…it doesn’t matter because America voted to let this morally blind man drive the presidency, and now we have no choice but to sit in the back seat and pray he doesn’t crash into too many old ladies.
NOAH: Michael, Michael, no, it is totally different. Blindness isn’t a character trait, it’s physical.
KOSTA: So is moral blindness. In fact, it’s genetic to the whole Trump family. Okay? Don’t forget Robert Mueller let Don Jr. off the hook for colluding with Russia because he didn’t know colluding with Russia was a crime. He walked away from that a free man and then he locked himself in his car.
NOAH: So, so you’re saying Trump shouldn’t be punished because he doesn’t know any better? That is ridiculous.
KOSTA: No. No, Trevor, it’s inspiring. If…if ignorance is the ultimate legal defense, then we should all strive to be as ignorant as possible. That’s why for the past week, I’ve been unlearning how to read. That way I can’t get in trouble for not paying my bills or ignoring divorce papers or disregarding restraining orders from Denny’s.
NOAH: Jesus, Kosta, I…I feel like unlearning to read seems like a lot of work.
KOSTA: No way. It’s as simple as A-G-V.
NOAH: Michael Kosta, everyone. We’ll be right back!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
