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‘The Daily Show’ Slams Paul Ryan and GOP for Allowing ‘Racist’ Steve Bannon

Trevor Noah can’t believe Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell won’t condemn alt-right figure Steve Bannon.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is disgusted with President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. But he’s disappointed in House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have refused to criticize a man who “happily provided a megaphone” to white supremacists.

While the Trump transition has generally been described as an indecisive mess, the appointment of Bannon has been the president-elect’s most “confident” position yet. “Yes, the man who will be the top adviser to the future president of the United States, his personal motto is, ‘Honey badger don’t give a shit,’” Noah noted Wednesday night. But that being said, the host added that Bannon, who made his name running Breitbart.com, is “no joke.”

“These are the kind of people who think Fox News is too diverse,” Noah said. “Breitbart is infamous for writing articles that are misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and outright racist.” Calling Bannon a “reprehensible human being,” Noah said his new place in the White House should “scare everyone.”

Since both Trump and Bannon are “unshameable,” Noah said “there’s a good chance they don’t give a shit” that a good portion of the country is horrified by the appointment. The people who we “shouldn’t forget about,” he added, are Ryan and McConnell, “the Republican leaders who never had the spine to stand up to Trump.”

Asked by reporters whether he thinks Bannon was an appropriate pick, McConnell just smiled and ignored the question completely. “I’m sorry, that’s not the response of a moral leader,” Noah said. “That’s someone’s grandpa doing a really shitty Mannequin Challenge.”

To Ryan, who told CNN that he “trusts” Trump’s judgment and couldn’t condemn Bannon because they’ve never met, Noah said, “Get the fuck out of here, man. You trust Donald Trump’s judgment? Since when?”

“Shame on you, Paul Ryan!” Noah said. “Now we know: When it comes to putting his country first, Paul Ryan don’t give a shit.”

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Matt WilsteinSenior Editor

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