The liberal journalists at MSNBC and the co-creator of The Daily Show were taken aback by the perceived anti-Israel, anti-Jewish comments of the newly crowned host. Cable anchor Tamron Hall on Tuesday declared that comedian Trevor Noah is "already generating some controversy."
Talking to Lizz Winstead, the co-creator of The Daily Show, Hall added, "There is backlash right now." Incoming host Noah has previously sneered, "South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful." He's also mocked, "Behind every successful Rap Billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man." On Twitter, Noah has commented on people who "look Jewish" and joked that "blue-eyed people" have a "lower Jew tolerance."
Even the New York Times on Tuesday weighed in, saying that those on social media have "uncovered many posts on his Twitter account that they deemed to be offensive to women or Jews."
Noah has also derided America as having worse race relations than Apartheid South Africa.
Winstead warned MSNBC's Hall:
LIZZ WINSTEAD: You know, I think this is an era of comedy now when whatever you say matters and Twitter is for the record. And he's going to get a little bit of a taste of what it's going to feel like to be in the public spotlight every single day. You know, it used to be that you could skirt how people felt about what you said because it was -- you could call up, one crank writing the network and now when you make jokes at the expense of whomever it is, that whomever it is has a Twitter handle, has a posse, can come after you. So, he's going to feel -- going to start feeling it.
On Monday's NBC Nightly News, journalist Kevin Tibbles reported on the transition, but skipped any hint of controversy.
A partial transcript of the March 31 News Nation segment, which aired at 11:50, follows:
TAMRON HALL: In less than 24 hours, comedian Trevor Noah has gone from a relatively unknown performer to the new face of one of the most popular shows and he's already generating some controversy.
...
HALL: There is backlash right now. Time magazine is reporting, as well as New York Times, people looking over his Twitter history, Trevor Noah's Twitter history and some controversial tweets that are now being scrutinized. One of them, for example, he tweeted out, "Behind every successful rap billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man." Somebody tweeted out from Wimbledon that they think it was time for the fat lady to sing at the end of the game. And he tweeted out, "Your Adele jokes are not funny." And there are several others that we could not put on air, but you have people now scrutinizing his tweets and coming after him this way. What do you think of that?
LIZZ WINSTEAD: You know, I think this is an era of comedy now when whatever you say matters and Twitter is for the record. And he's going to get a little bit of a taste of what it's going to feel like to be in the public spotlight every single day. You know, it used to be that you could skirt how people felt about what you said because it was -- you could call up, one crank writing the network and now when you make jokes at the expense of whomever it is, that whomever it is has a Twitter handle, has a posse, can come after you. So, he's going to feel -- going to start feeling it.
HALL: What advice do you have for him?
WINSTEAD: Um, what I say to everybody is when you tweet it and say, make sure you can back it up.
