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Was ‘The Daily Show’ Abortion Tweet A Publicity Stunt Due To Trevor Noah’s Low Ratings?

By Daryl Deino
Published on: 06:57 PST, Jun 29, 2016

The Daily Show is practically on death row in terms of ratings. Perhaps this is the reason they tweeted this controversial statement after the Supreme Court decision on abortion on Monday.

Needless to say, the tweet didn’t go down well. Even the ultra-liberal feminist site Jezebel thought the tweet was insulting. The tweet caused quite an uproar on Twitter.

Then, The Daily Show tried to explain their tweet.

No matter how out-of-line the tweet might have been, it temporary increased ratings for The Daily Show to 830,000 viewers Monday night — a larger-than-usual audience for a show that has been sinking ever since Jon Stewart left and Trevor Noah took over.

Trevor Noah has experienced dismal ratings. [Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images]

Last Thursday, the Comedy Central show had a dismal audience of 760,000 and 763,000 on Wednesday night. It’s quite possible that the producers of the show got together after the abortion ruling and decided how they could best take advantage of it to score ratings. Although the ratings did increase, it’s doubtful that the stunt will lead to a long-term rise.

Many say that The Daily Show with Trevor Noah is a disaster. The New York Daily News certainly didn’t help things by writing an article titled “Daily Show host Trevor Noah is a flop.”

“If Millennials are truly eating up Trevor Noah, then an entire generation is suffering from comedy malnutrition,” writes columnist Gersh Kuntzman before noting that Comedy Central says it is happy with Noah’s ratings when it comes to young folks.

“That’s because all he has in his comic quiver is jokes. And pretty simple jokes, too. Noah needs to do better. I happily gave him eight months to get comfortable, but he isn’t impressing many of us,” Kuntzman continues.

Critics think Trevor Noah just doesn’t have “the bite.” [Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images]

Maureen Ryan of Variety also recently published a very negative article about The Daily Show, claiming the show lost its teeth under Noah’s guidance.

“Under the leadership of new host Trevor Noah, The Daily Show seems to have lost its way — but in the most amiable manner possible. Ever since Noah took over six months ago, the show has assumed an air of easygoing chill. It’s not that he doesn’t tell reasonably good jokes now and then, but few, if any, are aimed at the jugular. And he rarely loses his expression of gentle bemusement.”

James Parker of the Atlantic was nicer about Trevor Noah and claimed he just hasn’t found his edge.

“Trevor Noah, currently a very able lightweight, needs time too. But he won’t get any. As a culture, we’re not about to nurture this talent, to give it room to grow. Our patience was exhausted long ago, by some other guy. We’re going to pass judgment and move on.”

Parker adds that he thinks Trevor Noah is actually funny and doesn’t show fear in his eyes when delivering a joke. However, some of the commenters after the article certainly disagree.

“I don’t know anything about Trevor’s career prior to TDS, but I presume he has less experience. Hopefully, his comedic delivery will improve with time, but he’s still a long way from Jon Stewart’s ability,” claims Yllehs10.

“Trevor Noah is more comedian than philosopher. Perhaps with age he’ll find his groove and elevate the material, but right now, it could be anyone reading the jokes,” says WhatMiddleClass.

Due to low ratings, it’s likely that Trevor Noah will be replaced before the new season starts. What do you think of Trevor Noah and The Daily Show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

[Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images]

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