‘Daily Show’s’ Trevor Noah Goes Off on Beto O’Rourke’s ‘Woke’ Critics: ‘This Is Insanity!’

In the four days since former congressman Beto O’Rourke announced his run for the 2020 Democratic nomination, he has done a lot of apologizing. The Daily Show host Trevor Noah thinks he needs to stop.

Noah called it “ridiculous” that O’Rourke is being criticized for elements of his past, like the fact that he was part of a hacking collective or that he once wrote violent fiction. “What’s next?” he asked. “Are we going to arrest George R.R. Martin? ‘That man’s a monster, he killed thousands!’ No, he’s a monster because he refuses to finish those books!”

“But Beto’s an interesting guy,” the host added. “He doesn’t want to risk offending anyone with his past writings. In fact, he doesn’t want to offend anybody.” From there, he cut to a montage of O’Rourke offering sincere apologies over the weekend for everything from joking about his wife to saying he’s “born to run” for president.

“Wow, this guy’s apologizing for everything,” Noah said. “I’m sorry, people, but this is out of control. People literally wanted Beto O’Rourke to apologize because he said about the presidential race, ‘I was born for this.’” He imitated critics who whined, “That’s white privilege, are you saying the presidency’s your birthright?”

“This shit is getting ridiculous!” Noah exclaimed. “This is not wokeness, this is insanity!”

The host imagined what would happen if O’Rourke took this stance into the White House. When North Korea fired nukes at the U.S., he might respond, “As a white man, maybe it’s time for me to listen to what these missiles have to say.”

“Breaking news: New York City was wiped out, but the president is a woke bae!”