7. Trevor Noah

Our first thought after watching this was, “what the fuck was that?” Noah started off his Daily Show monologue with a tired, strangely gendered joke about Climate Week (“it’s where all the men in my office fight with all the women in my office over who controls the thermostat for the rest of the year”). He then said he was committing his segment to the “weird little things” that climate change is doing to our world.

Weird things are fine and good to focus on since they matter and can show how wide-ranging the impacts are. But Noah decided to trot out a super long bit about how sea turtles are producing more females with more sexist jokes and how some studies have shown hotter temperatures will lead to humans having less sex and fighting more. The latter included jokes about a “backed-up dick.” There was also a bit about how “the Taliban won in Afghanistan because of climate change” where Noah used a fake Arabic accent to imitate an Afghan person asking the Taliban if they’re allowed to wear shorts in hot weather.

The monologue was not just offensive. It also lacked innovation and smart humor, which is a real shame, given The Daily Show’s storied history. At least he had Greta Thunberg on as a guest. Maybe Noah should’ve asked for her help with the climate part of his monologue.

Hot Burn: …

Cringe line: “We could be facing a future where your sex-starved husband gets killed by space junk on his way to join the Taliban.”