Trevor Noah Is a Moral Disgrace

On Twitter, Noam Blum points out that the comedian Trevor Noah has joined the pile-on against Joe Rogan. “When Joe Rogan says, ‘I wasn’t being racist. I was just being entertaining,’” Noah said on his show, “No, Joe, I think you were using racism to try to be entertaining.” Here’s the clip:

This is appalling in and of itself. Noah is a comedian, and he should understand instinctively that context matters — especially given that Noah himself came under fire a few years ago for having made jokes that were subsequently deemed to be offensive, and that he responded to these charges by arguing that “to reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian.”

Among those jokes were: “Originally when men proposed they went down on one knee so if the woman said no they were in the perfect uppercut position.” And: “Behind every successful Rap Billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man.” And: “Messi gets the ball and the real players try foul him, but Messi doesn’t go down easy, just like jewish chicks.”

If they so wished, other comedians could have responded to Noah’s explanation by saying, “When Trevor Noah says, ‘I wasn’t being sexist or anti-semitic. I was just being entertaining,’ no, Trevor, I think you were using sexism and anti-semitism to try to be entertaining.”

But they didn’t. Instead, one comedian said of Noah: “Too much for 140 characters, but NOTHING he said was out of line, and he’s a funny dude. F**k the haters, Noah!”

That comedian’s name? Joe Rogan.

Which is to say that Trevor Noah is now making indignant hay out of behavior in which he himself indulged, and for which the person he’s attacking strongly defended him. Rarely do we get a better example of the difference between the liberal and illiberal mindsets.

What a disgrace.