Trevor Noah on possible Trump victory: 'I am very much afraid'
Comedy Central's live The Daily Show election special Tuesday night had the cheeky subtitle "Democalypse 2016," but the mood struck by host Trevor Noah felt as if armageddon was nigh with a possible Donald Trump victory over Hillary Clinton.
"It feels like the end of the world," Noah said in his opening, pondering a Trump presidency. "I’m not going to lie, I don’t know if you’ve come to the right place for jokes tonight. This is the first time throughout this entire race where I am officially (messing) my pants. I genuinely do not understand how America can this be disorganized or this hateful. I don’t know which one it is."
While he admitted that “I am very much afraid," Noah still tried to get in as many jokes as possible, mixing in jabs about the Mexican peso crashing with some Game of Thrones quips, likening Trump's Republican campaign to White Walkers.
"He is doing so much winning that I am tired of winning," Noah said in a throwback to an early Trump-ism. "I can’t believe that I finally get what that means."
Because of the live "breaking news" aspect of the night, the host came prepared with his old-school Clark Kent fedora (with press badge that read "PRESS") and fake glasses. "I am not used to being a news anchor. Now the news is just breaking me."
Noah's regular "contributors" and guests chimed in, though couldn't break the malaise.
Comedian Keegan-Michael Key, who thought a Clinton victory was in the bag: "I feel like I should have just stayed at home in Detroit because I am so close to Canada."
Roy Wood Jr., who was regularly downing Pepto-Bismol, said on a late call for Trump's victory in Florida: "You serve dinner to old people at 5 p.m. but you can’t count the votes by 11 p.m.?”
Senior correspondent Ronny Chieng: "If America wanted to do things right, we wouldn’t be waiting to hear if Donald Trump is going to be president."
Senior Trump correspondent Jordan Klepper: "You know that lie we tell kids, 'You can be president'? It's true now. Literally anyone can be president."
MTV senior political correspondent Ana Marie Cox: "I’m really heartbroken. This is not the country I hoped it was. We are more divided, we are more racist and we are more sexist than I believed. … It’s not funny and it’s not something to laugh about."
Yep, that's pretty much how the entire hour went. Wood did his best to keep things light in a faux-grump fashion but he had one line that summed up their night: "You know what tonight feels like? Like a funeral for America."