Trevor Noah has entered his DGAF era now that he’s leaving The Daily Show. A recent clip package from the late-night talk show compares Vice President Kamala Harris to the fictional VP of the comedy satire Veep, showing that he’s no longer fearful of enraging sacred cows.
The video highlights a few nonsensical statements from Harris throughout her Vice Presidential run, and intertwines them with speeches made by Veep’s politically-ambiguous and bumbling Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who won 7 Emmys for her work in the role0.
In the clip, Harris says, “when we talk about the children of the community, they are the children of the community” and then cuts to Selina’s “we are the United States of America because we’re united and we’re states,” and continues with enough eerie resemblances to make it seem like we are living in a simulation.
But, given that Noah consistently makes political jokes, why was this one such a shock? The talk show host has been criticized for being overly “woke” and “liberal”, mostly by far-right commentators, during his time as host. Noah has never been afraid to make his progressive politics known on the show, touching on hot topics like police brutality and online racist attacks. Therefore, seeing him direct a gibe towards a Democrat seems a bit out-of-character, and everybody is noting it.
But while Republican politicians are taking this as a “win” – U.S. House candidate Beth Van Duyne retweeted it with “Oh my…” and Jeff Duncan, a Republican congressman from South Carolina, called it “life imitating art” – it actually hints that Noah has lost interest in watering down his politics, and now, nobody is off-limits.
Noah announced his departure from The Daily Show last week, which he’s been hosting since 2015. Variety published a statement from the network, saying, “We are grateful to Trevor for our amazing partnership over the past seven years. With no timetable for his departure, we’re working together on next steps.”
Commenting on his departure, Noah said, “What a journey it’s been, I realized after seven years, my time is up, but in the most beautiful way. Honestly, I’ve loved hosting this show. It’s been one of my greatest challenges. One of my greatest joys. I’ve loved trying to figure out how to make people laugh particularly when the stories are shitty on the worst days.”
He continued to share that he is leaving to pursue other interests, such as traveling and returning to stand-up comedy. The Daily Show has not announced his replacement, but given his success in redefining the show’s culture and demographics, following John Stewart’s tenure, many are hoping that he is replaced with someone who continues to build the show’s brand.
