In recent years, it’s been enlightening–and on some levels, chilling–to hear some of the true believers on the Republican side unplugged. Well, Donald Trump inadvertently handed us a golden opportunity when he called for “extreme vetting” of potential immigrants. So leave it to the folks at “The Daily Show” to give Trump a dose of his own medicine.
Trevor Noah, like most of his colleagues on late-night television, has declared open war on the Donald. So it came as no shock when he sent one of his crack correspondents, Jordan Klepper, to put Trump’s supporters to the test. Watch the results here.
Trump himself has declared that any potential immigrants must share the same perspective on religious freedom, LGBT rights, and other issues as mainstream Americans. Well, when Klepper traveled to a Trump rally in Wisconsin, he discovered that when Trump’s supporters got a dose of their man’s “extreme vetting,” a good number of them flunked–royally. We knew which way things were going when a woman told Klepper that it was important to respect all religions–but when pressed, said that Islam wasn’t worthy of respect.
Another woman bluntly said that “the presidency is a man’s job.” When Klepper reminded her that women are indeed qualified, this female Trumper said–with a straight face–that since “a female has more hormones,” she can’t be within an area code of the nuclear codes. After all, if she has a hot flash, she could start a war. Hmmm, and Trump isn’t being hormonal when he openly threatens to use nukes on ISIS?
It should come as no shock that most of the people Klepper collared are firmly against gay rights. But one woman said that the prospect of gay rights made her queasy because “the gay couple, they want more.” Apparently for this woman, when gays say they want to be equal, they are simply yelling for “more.”
One man chided “extreme nations” for not treating women “with respect.” In contrast, “it is an American ideal that we treat women with respect.” So how did he explain wearing a shirt that said “Hillary sucks…but not like Monica” on the front and “Trump that bitch!” on the back?
Then again, this isn’t all that surprising that Republicans would flunk their own test. After all, when your party openly embraces “pray away the gay” and calls in a pastor to give a benediction declaring that “our enemy is Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party,” it’s not likely your true believers will pass a test that says such discrimination is un-American. Karma is a lovely thing, isn’t it?
