Trevor Noah said farewell to The Daily Show after spending seven years as a host on Thursday, 8 December, in a fashion typical to the South African Comedian – with jokes about Kanye West, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2016 United States presidential election.
He expressed gratitude both to viewers and particularly to the Black women who shaped him. “I’m grateful to you. Every single one of you,” Noah told his studio audience.
In a video shared by the show’s Twitter account, Trevor reflected on his journey, his vision, and the obstacles the show faced, and eventually overcame with the love and support of his audience.
But an interesting part of Noah’s announcement video, uploaded in September, was when he recalled a recent trip to India, for the first time, and added that seeing people express love and support filled him with a lot of love and respect.
“I recently went to India for the first time. And people there, you know supported everything we have done and I just found myself filled with gratitude for the journey. It's been absolutely amazing," Noah said.
But Noah’s interest for India has been more than just one trip to the sub-continent. We take a look at Trevor Noah’s relationship with India so far!
‘If You Don’t Know, Now You Know’: Farmer’s Protests in India
In a segment titled, ‘If You Don’t Know, Now You Know’, The Daily Show’s host explained the farmers protest in India.
“We’re talking about India because in a year of global protests, they’re in the midst of the biggest one anywhere,” Noah said in his introduction.
He explained the fundamental reason for the protest, as he reported on the proposed scrapping of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which would leave the farmers to ‘fend for themselves at the mercy of the free market’.
“Most Indian farmers work on a smaller scale, and it’s when the government tried to change that, that the manure hit the fan,” Noah commented.
The segment also took notice of the violence that took place on 26 January, during the farmers’ tractor rally at Red Fort, and went on to highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reaction to it.
Calling the BJP government’s measures to curb the protests a part of a ‘major crackdown,’ he pointed out, “It shows how worried the government must be about the protest, and honestly they should be, because these farmers are digging in for the long haul.”
Airing visuals from the protest sites around the national capital, the segment then switched to talking about the longevity of the protest, which has seen some of the coldest winter nights in Delhi. The segment aired an interview of a farmer who said, “Whether it takes four years or more, we’re here to stay.”
Reacting to the clip, the comedian remarked, “Nobody on earth is more patient that a farmer.”
Noah had also observed, “Clearly the government has decided that they’ve had enough of this protest...maybe they think that postponing the law by 18 months will satisfy farmers, but think about it, in 18 months, people will be in the same position that they are in now.”
‘The Most Entertaining War of All Times’
In March 2019, Noah was slammed for saying that a potential military conflict between India and Pakistan would be “the most entertaining war of all times” and eventually apologised for his comments.
In his show, not only did Noah fail to underscore the severity of the situation between the two neighbouring countries, he also took jibes at the Indian military forces that were slammed for being ‘racist’.
Noah further added fuel to the fire by saying that a potential war between India and Pakistan would be “longest war of all time,” as the military forces would repeatedly ‘break into dance numbers’.
Tweeple highlighted the gravity of the situation by talking about the soldiers India lost in the Pulwama terror attack. Situations like these are to be taken seriously, they said.
Subsequently, in a tweet, Noah said that he uses comedy to “process pain and discomfort in his world” but was sorry that it hurt others.
However, he added that it was “amazing” that his ‘joke’ about conflict trended more than the India-Pakistan conflict itself.
‘His Humour Was Actually a Prophecy’
Comparison with a store-bought lettuce, 10 Downing Street up for rent on Airbnb, and a "ghost PM" tag.
These were just a few of the potshots people took at British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who tendered her resignation as the country's Prime Minister in October while the country went through massive economic turmoil. In the midst of the chaos, a video of Noah from 2019 made headlines for his comments about Brexit, and India.
In the video, The Daily Show host, while speaking about the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, suggested either that India or any of the former British colonies should manage the country given the chaotic and unprecedented turmoil.
“Brexit has destroyed three prime ministers…it's cursed….at this point, things in Britain are so bad that one country should just colonise them,” he said.
Mocking the former British empire’s idea of making other countries stable, he said, “India should come to England and say ‘you don’t know how to govern yourselves, we have to fix this’…”
During the political crisis in the UK in 2022, the video once again did the rounds on social media. “Trevor Noah didn’t know, his humour was actually a prophecy,” a Twitter user said referring to Indian-origin Rishi Sunak’s appointment as UK’s next PM.
‘You Finally Get To Legitimately Blame a Brown Person for Your Country’s Problems’
Another one of Trevor Noah’s iconic India moments also came during the Uk’s political crisis. He responded to British racists who have issues with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as he is a non-white of Indian origin.
In The Daily Show's Twitter post, Noah can be seen responding to people who have made racist remarks.
During the show a caller spoke about how he thinks Britain should have a white Prime Minister. He said, "Can you imagine me becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan? People of England would like to see someone who looks like them."
Noah responded to the said remark while talking about colonialism and how the British had in turn done the same previously.
He quipped, "This could be a good thing for you people. After 400 years, you finally get to legitimately blame a brown person for your country's problems. You're living the dream!"
‘Don’t Throw Away Your BMW’
A segment in one of Noah’s shows revolved around a rather uncommon piece of news, where a Haryana youth angrily drowned his new BMW car after his parents did not buy him a Jaguar. The incident gained popularity internationally, courtesy The Daily Show’s hilarious take on it.
The comedian poked at 22-year old-Akash, quipping that he acted unlike most people would when they receive gifts they do not like or use: graciously accept it as a courtesy.
“Well there’s one kid in India who does not like pretending,” Noah said.
He also suggested a punishment Akash’s parents could use against him,
“You know what this kid’s parents should have done? Tell him they got him a Jaguar and go ahead and put him in the cage with an actual jaguar.”
“It used to be American parents schooling their kids like ‘don't throw away food, Billy, there are starving kids in India’ and now it's Indian parents like ‘don't throw away your BMW there are kids in America driving Kia Sorento’s,” he added.
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