‘The Daily Show’ Accused of Transphobia After Trump Tweet Misses the Mark
Not every joke is going to land — as The Daily Show just found out. On Wednesday, the popular political TV show fired off a tweet asking followers to predict what Thursday’s biggest news story would be. “What news will drop Thursday between 5 and 6pm?” it began, before listing a series of options. “A. Trump uses Constitution as KFC napkin B. Comey drops a complete “visual album” C. Ivanka requests immunity D. Donald Trump announces he is now Donna Trump.”
As could be predicted if it had been given a moment of thought, option D sparked a firestorm of responses from people who didn’t think the line was very funny. Making matters worse, May 17 just happened to be International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Oops.
@TheDailyShow Haha you're right daily show. Someone transitioning is definitely as crazy as the other things on this list
— TB Corporate (@trillballins) May 18, 2017
“Haha you’re right daily show. Someone transitioning is definitely as crazy as the other things on this list,” one user (sarcastically) wrote, while another suggested, “The Daily Show celebrates International Day Against Transphobia with transphobic ‘joke’.”
@TheDailyShow E: "The Daily Show celebrates International Day Against Transphobia with transphobic 'joke'."
— sharia lawful good (@hooper_x) May 17, 2017
Another accused the scribe of the tweet of being lazy. “Literally the easiest target in the ENTIRE WORLD and you go for a trans joke?” the user wrote. (To be clear, the “easiest target in the ENTIRE WORLD” is President Trump.)
@TheDailyShow Literally the easiest target in the ENTIRE WORLD and you go for a trans joke?
— slugabed (@mymillshake) May 18, 2017
Others skipped the humor and focused on what they saw as a serious offense. “It’s using us as a punch line which directly contributes to a climate where other bigots think they can murder us without consequences,” one wrote. Another added, “This was funny until it ended at the expense of a marginalized group. #DroppedTheBall.”
@TheDailyShow It's using us as a punch line which directly contributes to a climate where other bigots think they can murder us without consequences.
— Christina DiEdoardo (@ChristinaSFLaw) May 18, 2017
@TheDailyShow This was funny until it ended at the expense of a marginalized group. #DroppedTheBall
— Freedom Fighter (@RideOutTheStorm) May 17, 2017
By Thursday, the Daily Show had taken down the controversial tweet but had yet to release a statement or apology. Instead, its Twitter stream was peppered with new posts featuring host Trevor Noah making other jokes about Trump, free from any reference to his sexual preference or identity.
“Comey reminds me of every black mother,” one tweet began. “I brought you into this world, and child, I can take you out of it!”
Will Comey’s memo bring down President Trump? https://t.co/T3u8RBIYnv pic.twitter.com/7DeaCzMFn2
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 18, 2017
Trump has not tweeted back to the Daily Show directly, but hey — the day is young.
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