Alex Trebek Puzzles ‘Jeopardy’ Fans With Southern Accent For Joseph McCarthy Clue

Jeopardy fans are dragging Alex Trebek for some new accents the host was trying out on tonight’s episode. During a clue for U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, many Twitter users picked up on Trebek’s seemingly southern accent when reading the clue, which would make sense if McCarthy was from that region…but the Republican senator was actually from Wisconsin.

During the clue, which was under the Politics: Who Said It? category, Trebek read out the prompt with a thick southern drawl.

“In 1950, this senator said there were 205 communists in the State Department, but in Senate testimony gave no proof of a single card carrier,” he read. Although Trebek’s pronunciation threw off some viewers at home, ultimately, a competitor was able to guess the right answer, Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

“Why was he using a southern accent?” one fan asked. “Alex Trebek appears to believe Joe McCarthy and Henry Kissinger were from the deep south,” another added.

“Apparently Joseph McCarthy sounded just like Foghorn Leghorn. #Jeopardy,” one tweeted. 

But Trebek wasn’t done with his accents after just one clue. He once again got creative with his reading later in the episode, this time for a clue about Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.” But this time, Trebek chose a French accent, not the southern one he’d used earlier.

For a clue introducing character Hercule Poirot during the Mysteries and Thrillers category, Trebek put some flair in his voice, and fans quickly pointed it out.

“I will never ever say Hercule Poirot in any other weird way but Alex’s super super weird way !!! #jeopardy,” one user tweeted. But another fan wasn’t as impressed. “Alex’s French accent is as bad as his southern accent,” they wrote. 

One Jeopardy fan asked Trebek to stop the accents altogether after his performance on tonight’s episode. “You’ve been warned, Alex #jeopardy No more accents #TeachersTournament,” they wrote.

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