Trevor Noah isn't holding back when it comes to his feelings towards the current U.S. President, Donald Trump. The Daily Show host is on the cover of Variety magazine and took this opportunity to share his déjà vu.
From the moment the 2016 election revved up into gear, Noah was never shy about the red flags he saw, and the South African-born host is talking once more about his fears.
Trevor Noah is seeing red flags
Taking the opportunity to get serious, Trevor Noah is opening up to Variety magazine about his current fears and red flags he sees with the current president.
"I told people five years ago, 'Wait until he’s telling you that you don’t need to have an election.' And people were like, 'This is America. It can’t happen. We got checks and balances.' Please understand: We all have checks and balances in our countries," he told the magazine.
"Contrary to popular belief, Africa is not made up of savages. We do know how to write laws," he continued. "But what we have learned is that the right leaders at the right times can step in and use those laws in a very dangerous manner."
Noah also opens up about how challenging it was, in the beginning, taking over as host on The Daily Show, but admits that now he finds it much easier, as he's learned how to discuss politics from a different immigrant perspective.
"I realized no, a global perspective is not talking about what’s happening around the globe," he said. "It’s being shaped by the idea that we live together on the globe."
"I realized that I can talk about Donald Trump," he added, "And I can explain to you why this man is like so many African dictators we’ve seen."
Noah also touched on the Black Lives Matter Movement saying he was glad they weren't on air due to the global pandemic because "I couldn’t speak. I had to listen."
"I wore a black hoodie for a while," the comedian shares.
"Not to build it up, but I just — I didn’t feel like colour, you know? Every day, when I walked into the closet, it didn’t feel like a purple day; it didn’t feel like a green day; it didn’t feel like a red day. It felt like a black day," he said.
The Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o shared with the publication that she enjoys how much Noah is in the public eye in America, saying, "Trevor is and has always been a kind of outsider-insider, even growing up in South Africa. He brings his African perspective with him and makes it less esoteric and exotic to an American audience."
"Sometimes it helps to see yourself from the viewpoint of someone outside of your context," she added. "The U.S. does not get a lot of that opportunity because of how dominant U.S. culture is in the rest of the world."