The Trump impeachment hearings are the biggest news story in the country this week, but as The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah demonstrated with a series of clips Thursday night, Fox News is trying as hard as it can to pretend that it’s no big deal.
After the montage, which ended with Jesse Watters declaring, “If you ask the American people about Ukraine, they don’t know a thing about it,” Noah could only say, “Wow.”
“So what, according to Fox News, Americans are too dumb to follow these impeachment proceedings?” the host asked. Imitating the Fox personalities, he added, “The word impeachment is very confusing. Maybe we should call it a presidential boo-boo, would that help?”
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But Noah sensed a whiff of hypocrisy in the air. Because “when it was Hillary’s scandal,” Fox News hosts like Sean Hannity were suddenly experts on Benghazi and Libya. “But then, when it’s a Donald Trump scandal, all of a sudden they’re like, ‘What’s a Ukraine?’”
“Because look, even if people don’t understand every aspect about the Ukraine scandal, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still grasp its importance,” Noah added, arguing that Fox is actually trying to “hypnotize their viewers into not caring.”
Holding up a swinging pocket watch, he echoed Tucker Carlson as he said, “Look deep into my eyes, a week from now you will remember none of the details. And when I snap my fingers, you’ll wake up and think racism only happens to white people.”
Fox “has no intention of being objective at all,” Noah said, suggesting the network sounds “less like journalists and more like mean girls trying to sabotage someone’s sweet 16.”
“But if calling their viewers dumb or using mind control doesn’t work,” he said, “Fox has come up with another reason to ignore the impeachment hearings. And that is, it’s just not binge-worthy TV.” And this talking point seems to have come directly from the White House: Impeachment hearings are “boring!” Or as Watters put it, “It’s not a sexy scandal.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you’re saying Trump’s impeachment is boring and unsexy?!” Noah asked. “You know if Trump hears that it’s going to piss him off, right? He’s going to come out like, ‘My impeachment will be the most exciting ever. I’ll break into a hotel and best believe I’ll jizz all over this dress, don’t make me do it!’”
“Here’s the thing, people, these hearings are investigating whether the president of the United States committed high crimes or misdemeanors,” Noah continued. “They’re supposed to be serious. It’s not about excitement. Impeachment is like a family reunion. If it’s sexy, something has gone horribly wrong.”
