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.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO