Trevor Noah has the hardest job in US media

Being a political commentator in the US is a job that’s never going to make you many friends.

Regardless of whether you try to maintain balance in your reporting of events, you’ll always face the same accusations from both sides of the political spectrum that your coverage is biased. You’ll also no doubt face criticism of a less intelligent nature; just ask Megyn Kelly, after Donald Trump put her difficult questions in the first Republican presidential debate down to “blood coming out of her wherever”.

But few political commentators face the same indignant clamor on a regular basis as Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show after taking over the reigns from the famous John Stewart.

While Noah isn’t exempt from the standard list of slurs that left-leaning satirists accept as part of the job, a few things set him apart from other late night hosts, which open him up to even more abuse than that enjoyed by his contemporaries. You need only scroll down the page to the comments underneath the many videos of Daily Show segments posted on YouTube to sample a taste of the nature of the various criticisms of John Stewart’s successor:

He’s a foreigner

The first criticism, and without a doubt his most heinous offence, is that he’s foreign. Most foreigners discussing current affairs regularly within the US, myself included, will at some point have heard the retort “if you don’t like it, go back to your own country.” It’s not the most intellectual of arguments and ironically it’s most frequently used when a foreigner suggests making changes to the Bill of Rights, the first amendment of which protects freedom of speech.

Yet sure enough, South African born Trevor Noah will face accusations that he has no right to comment on the issues of the United States after each Daily Show broadcast, because he is not a US citizen and doesn’t hold a green card.

Certainly, the logic behind this argument is shaky at best – from what I can gather the logic goes that there is nothing worse for debate than fresh perspective from an outside observer – yet this outrage imbues the comments of almost every video on YouTube of Noah’s work both on The Daily Show and in his own stand up comedy career.

He’s mixed race

The next popular criticism seems to stem from a misunderstanding over the difference between political analysis/critique and racism/xenophobia/Islamophobia. Many of Noah’s critics claim that his position as a mixed race host of The Daily Show allows him to make jokes on sensitive topics such a race and religion, which Jon Stewart could never have made without severe backlash. The criticism effectively argues that Noah’s use of stereotypes in his comedy attacking the GOP is only acceptable due to his race, while if a white man were to launch an attack on Muslims, using jokes that play on stereotypes, they are deemed Islamophobic or racist.

Though, as already mentioned, this suggestion fails to appreciate how a ban on Muslims entering the US is Islamophobic while a criticism of the senate is satire, it’s also untrue to say that Noah’s ethnicity gives him any license at all to make contentious jokes, as seen in the backlash against him when he was appointed host of The Daily Show, when offensive joke tweets from his past emerged.

Unfortunately, there does also seem to be a strain of attacks on Noah that are entirely racial. Though some may attempt to mask it by framing their criticisms as an issue of national identity, the dark racist undertones of these attacks are undeniable and serve as a sorry reminder that racism still exist in the US, though in a mercifully decreasing minority of the population.

He’s a ‘leftist slave’

If the attacks aren’t leveled at Trevor Noah, the man, then they’re likely leveled at Trevor Noah, the “leftist slave”. There can be little doubt that The Daily Show is indeed left-leaning politically, yet many in the reputable YouTube comments would have you believe that there is something more sinister at play. They proclaim the show and its host are corrupted by the Democratic Party, that they are a propaganda machine and nothing more than a mouthpiece for Clinton and her campaign.

Yet it’s untrue to say the Noah never attacks Clinton. While Trump certainly occupies the majority of Noah’s political monologues, earlier in the campaign everyone was fair game for Noah’s mockery. Particularly before she was announced as the Democratic nominee, he openly mocked her in favor of her party opposition, Bernie Sanders.

This accusation also seem to suggest that satirical late night shows and comedians have a duty and responsibility to be balanced in their political leanings and it’s unreasonable for a late night host to focus their wrath on one party or candidate. Yet in a country with news corporations such as Fox News and MSNBC that noticeably lean to different ends of the political spectrum, the suggestion that it’s the role of comedians and satirical shows to maintain balance in political argument seems absurd at best.

He’s trying to make Trump look bad

The final accusation, and the most popular of recent days, is that the majority of Noah’s jokes are at the expense of Republican candidate, Donald Trump. While this is, without a shadow of a doubt, entirely true, the question must be asked: “so what?” As already discussed, Noah owes nothing to the Trump campaign, nobody’s going to tap Noah on the shoulder and whisper in his ear “He’s had enough.” As long as there are jokes to be made about Trump, Noah will make them. Which leads to the real question everyone should be asking: “Why is there so much material for comedy in Donald Trump’s campaign?”

While many may complain about the quantity of anti-Trump routines on The Daily Show, few would say that the issues raised are insignificant or petty. From troubling tweets that seem to betray anti-Semitic sentiment in the candidate, to his refusal to release his suspect tax returns – after making his name leading the campaign to have President Obama release his birth certificate – despite pressure from Democrats and Republicans alike, the issues Noah touches on are significant and important in a man bidding to be the President of the United States.

By putting himself for as a candidate for the presidency, Trump must accept that he invites critical analysis of every aspect of his life. This includes his dubious record in his business dealings, his personality, and his understanding of political reality (yes, I’m talking about the wall) which seems to be sorely lacking given his lack of any political experience whatsoever-a quality his campaign is somehow promoting as an attractive trait in a presidential candidate. Ultimately, it’s not Noah’s responsibility to make sure Trump isn’t being picked on, and as long as Trump provides him with material, he will write jokes about him. His past, his present and particularly his potential future, are all fair game.

With that, I’ll leave my final observation to, erm, “Obi Wan Kenobi”: