Trevor Noah: Donald Trump's role models are Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Un

On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump held a press conference where he asked Russia to hack into America to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails. “I will tell you this: Russia, if you’re listening. I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think that you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press,” he said. The comments were widely condemned online, but Trump’s words left Trevor Noah simply stunned.


“Are you f—ing kidding me? Did this guy, a man running for president, just ask Russia to hack America?” Noah asked during Wednesday’s episode of The Daily Show. “Donald Trump called on a foreign nation to commit a crime to hurt his political opponent. This is what happened people, in real life. It’s not a matter of interpretation.”Noah highlighted how Trump’s increasingly inflammatory rhetoric was becoming almost “hard to believe.” Of his comments about Russia, Noah added: “Trump is like if the Manchurian Candidate ran as the Manchurian Candidate.” (In The Manchurian Candidate, a former soldier is brainwashed by Communists into becoming an assassin who works with his mother to overthrow the U.S. government.)

“This sh– is getting scary. I don’t understand how some people say they can’t see it,” Noah added later in the segment. “Donald Trump is almost like global warming right now. People are trying to deny that it’s real. They think it’s something we can worry about later, but it is happening right now.”

The host then compared the worst-case scenarios of what would happen if Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, were elected president, and what would happen if Trump won the race.

“With Hillary Clinton, worst-case scenario, you have a bad president for four years,” Noah said, noting the United States has endured poor presidents in the past. As for Trump?

“America, you have never had a Donald Trump before,” Noah said. “A man claiming to be the leader law and order and make America safe candidate. That man who invites foreign hackers to steal files that he himself said contain national security data. That man. That’s a leader you’ve never had. A man who publicly admires and very possibly colludes with Vladimir Putin. A man who is lovingly endorsed by Kim Jong Un. A man who praises and doubles down on praising Saddam Hussein. These are his role models.”

Noah closed the segment with a warning about the fragile nature of democracy. “These people you have to understand, once they’re in power, they don’t go away,” he said, showing photo of Trump alongside Putin, Hussein, and Jong Un. “You don’t get to a chance to vote them out in four years. Their rule ends when the country ends. To all the people out there considering voting for Trump, I hope you enjoy your vote. Because on days like this, you realize, this could be the very last vote you will ever get.”