Comedian Trevor Noah takes jab at DeSantis during White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Comedian Trevor Noah did not discriminate when it came time to satirize politicians, journalists and news organizations at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night — all parties involved got the smoke.
From roasting President Joe Biden for the nation’s sky-high gas prices to joking on Fox News television host Tucker Carlson for his monologues full of rhetorical questions “that Google could easily answer,” Noah made the crowd erupt in laughter, and other times sit in awkward silence.
One target of Noah’s comedy jabs was Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom Noah erroneously said was present at the event after he was listed as an attendee.
Noah derided DeSantis for “blaming” former President Donald Trump for the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and for “distancing” himself from the vaccines ahead of the next presidential election.
READ MORE: DeSantis prioritized seniors when vaccines rolled out. Where’s messaging on boosters?
“He won’t even tell people if he got the booster (vaccine) — or as they say in Florida, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” he quipped, while drawing a parallel between the old anti-gay policies of the U.S. military and some of DeSantis’ laws that critics say target Florida’s LGBTQ residents.
READ MORE: ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit rips Gov. Ron DeSantis over Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Recently signed into law by DeSantis, the Parental Rights in Education bill — dubbed by critics as the “Don’t say gay bill,” limits discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.
Noah also jokingly praised DeSantis for being smarter than Trump after the Florida Department of Education recently rejected dozens of math textbooks due to its content including references to critical race theory and other “prohibited topics.”
READ MORE: Stephen Colbert: Florida is waging ‘war on arithmetic’ after targeting math textbooks
“Trump said he won the election but everyone was just able to look at the numbers and see that he was wrong,” he said. “That’s why Ron DeSantis is one step ahead — first you ban the math textbooks, then nobody knows how to count the votes.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2022 at 4:07 PM.
