Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

WATCH: Trevor Noah Rips Apart Trump’s Response To Anti-Semitism

“We had a really nice show planned for you,” Trevor Noah began last night’s “The Daily Show.” “Very civil, very calm. And then, in the middle of the day, Hurricane Trump happened.”

The “hurricane” in question took place at The White House press conference on Thursday, when the president had a particularly volatile response to an ultra-Orthodox reporter’s question.

Jake Turx, a journalist with Ami Magazine, asked Trump how he planned to combat the uptick in anti-Semitism in the United States, but only after carefully telling the President that nobody believes he is personally anti-Semitic. Instead of responding, Trump slammed Turx for asking him a difficult question, while also clarifying that he is the “least anti-Semitic person you have ever seen in your entire life.”

Noah’s problem was not with Trump’s response. Instead, he criticized the President for complaining that Turx had asked him a question that was, according to him, neither simple nor fair.

“What’s even more striking in that interaction is you have a president of a democracy who thinks press is only valid when they ask him easy questions, questions that he likes,” Noah said. “In fact, in his mind, he deserves it.”

Besides, “The Daily Show” host noted, the answer was handed to the President on a silver platter.

“It’s an easy question,” Noah said. “What are you going to do about anti-Semitism?’ ‘We’re going to stamp it out.’ Done. That’s all you have to say. That was the softest ball possible. A matzo ball, if you will.”

The segment starts at 3:37, but the whole clip is worth watching.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.