Trevor Noah earned his stripes Wednesday night, when he invited right-wing conservative Tomi Lahren onto The Daily Show and engaged her in a thoughtful interview on Donald Trump, Black Lives Matter, and immigration. As someone who is not known for his superior interviewing skills, the engaging debate is potentially Noah’s best work on the show to date.
Lahren hosts “Tomi,” a political commentary on Glenn Beck’s news network The Blaze, and is the so-called voice of millennial conservatives. You might remember her from her rant about Beyonce’s Superbowl performance earlier this year, or her tweet calling the Black Lives Matter movement the “new KKK.”
During her time on The Daily Show Lahren talked her way out of straight answers and recited those key phrases that drive conservatives wild, like “whiny protestors with participation trophies,” and “make America great again.” But Noah, for the most part, dropped the jokes, held her accountable for her words, and contradicted her false or hypocritical claims.
When the conversation turned to Black Lives Matter, Noah made the point that the violence that Lahren equates to the movement is not their actual platform, nor is rioting specific to this particular group. Lahren brought up the shooting in Dallas in July that left five police officers dead saying, “The shooter said, point blank, that he was doing this because of Black Lives matter,” to which Noah responded, “You’re the same person who argued on your show that just because Donald Trump has supporters from the KKK doesn’t mean he’s in the KKK.”
At a time when everyone has a platform and an audience for their opinions (thanks, social media!), we need more of this from Noah, and from all late night hosts who want to address politics – less jokes made to boost ratings, and more confrontation of oppressive opinions, especially from public figures.
You can watch the entire 26-minute long interview below.
Photo and video via Comedy Central
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