On Monday’s installment of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, host Trevor Noah declared that Republican senators who did not stay and applaud Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court were “assholes” who wanted to get their “free N-word passes.”
After crediting Mitt Romney for staying and applauding the vote results, Noah turned his attention to other Republicans, “All those other assholes, think about, the first black woman since this country was founded gets confirmed to the Supreme Court and you can't find it in you to stay and clap. Just clap. Even like a – yeah, I’m not saying you got to throw panties on the stage or anything, just show respect.”
As for why they left, Noah naturally settled on racism as the most likely explanation:
Those Republicans ran out of the room like someone was handing out free N-word passes in the lobby, 'Oh boy, oh boy, I always wanted to say that word, oh boy, in public.' Why would you leave? No one ever leaves. Doesn’t matter whether they like the person or not. Why would you leave? The first black woman and that’s when you’re going to you leave.
While Noah declared that no one ever leaves these votes, just a few short years ago, Democrats couldn’t even bother to show up for Amy Coney Barrett’s committee vote.
Noah’s profane diatribe and lack of short-term memory was proceeded by lamentations that Jackson ultimately won’t change the Court that much: “And this is happening just in time for the Court to eliminate all rights for black people and women. What a moment. No, this is really incredible, man. Think about it, she will now be the most powerful black woman in the country to have her opinions entirely dismissed by two-thirds of her co-workers.”
If only Noah’s opinions could be entirely dismissed, a proper understanding of the Supreme Court and what it does might be more obtainable.
This segment was sponsored by Lexus.
Here is a transcript for the April 11 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
4/11/2022
11:21 PM ET
TREVOR NOAH: Wow. Wow. And this is happening just in time for the Court to eliminate all rights for black people and women. What a moment. No, this is really incredible, man. Think about it, she will now be the most powerful black woman in the country to have her opinions entirely dismissed by two-thirds of her co-workers. Wow. This is huge. And by the way, for anyone who wondered how much of an impact Ketanji Brown Jackson would have, well she made history from the moment she was confirmed.
RACHEL SCOTT [Good Morning America, April 8]: As Democrats rose to their feet with applause, Republicans headed for the door. Mitt Romney of Utah, one of three Republicans to vote yes, standing alone, the only GOP senator clapping.
NOAH: Really? Really? You know what, first of all, kudos to Mitt Romney. Yeah man. He's like, just decorum, you know. All those other assholes, think about, the first black woman since this country was founded gets confirmed to the Supreme Court and you can't find it in you to stay and clap. Just clap. Even like a – yeah, I’m not saying you got to throw panties on the stage or anything, just show respect. Just—just—some respect. Those Republicans ran out of the room like someone was handing out free N-word passes in the lobby, “Oh boy, oh boy, I always wanted to say that word, oh boy, in public.” Why would you leave? No one ever leaves. Doesn’t matter whether they like the person or not. Why would you leave? The first black woman and that’s when you’re going to you leave.
