The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah spent less than a minute taking on Rep. Steve King (R-IA) Thursday night. But that was more time than each of the big three network late-night hosts spent on America’s foremost white nationalist member of Congress.
After lightly mocking Beto O’Rourke for live-streaming his dental appointment on Instagram, Noah moved on to someone who “did something even less cool than visit a dentist.”
In the host’s words, King “has often faced accusations of racism,” adding, “Now, that’s mostly because of all the racist stuff he says. But today he defended himself by asking, ‘What’s wrong with racism anyway?’”
ADVERTISEMENT
“Yeah, I’m not racist, you n---as need to calm down!” Noah said as King.
In a new interview with The New York Times, King remarked, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization—how did that language become offensive?”
Those comments drew condemnation from his Republican colleagues, including House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, who said they were “abhorrent and racist and should have no place in our national discourse.”
“Now, I know it sounds bad,” Noah said of King. “But at least he didn’t do something truly unforgivable like say ‘motherfucker’ or dance on a rooftop once.”
