Former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah said he found it “funny” that Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while defending guns at a speaking event at Utah Valley University last month.
“The guy was shot while defending guns. Do you understand how — I’m not even writing that as a joke — as a human, you have to admit that is an incongruous funny thing that happens,” Noah argued. “You are there. You’re onstage, like, ‘Let me tell you why people should have guns.’ Wa-pow!”
Before acknowledging that he found the circumstances surrounding the TPUSA founder’s assassination humorous, Noah praised the Saudi Arabian government for “moving in the right direction” on civil liberties after its Riyadh Comedy Festival featured a mixed audience of men and women.
The comedian used the Saudi comedy festival as a segue to speak about Kirk, mentioning that other comedians warned him to steer clear from saying anything about the late TPUSA founder in his act.
“Meanwhile, here, comedians are s—ting themselves,” he told the crowd. “‘Don’t say anything about Charlie Kirk.’ ‘I wasn’t going say anything about him.’ ‘Yeah, but don’t say anything about Charlie.’ ‘I wasn’t going to say anything about Charlie Kirk.’ ‘But don’t. There’s nothing funny about it.’
“Oh, now you tested me,” he added, before stating that “as a comedian,” he was sure he could find something funny about Kirk’s murder.
The former “Daily Show” host called the controversy over jokes about Kirk’s assassination “ridiculous,” noting that while there’s nothing inherently funny about death, telling jokes is “literally what comedians do.”
“To me, it’s like, ‘Someone got shot.’ It’s not great. I didn’t wish for it. But now you can’t, like, terrorize your population if they dare to say something about the thing. Do you know what I mean?” Noah explained. “This is the same country where people make jokes about Abraham Lincoln being shot.”
Although his remarks were controversial, Noah wasn’t the first comedian to praise Saudi Arabia for its civil liberties while simultaneously evoking the assassination of Kirk.
In the weeks since Kirk’s death, some left-wing media figures have found themselves in hot water for remarks about the killing and his alleged assassin. After the brief suspension of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel after he appeared to falsely suggest the suspect was a MAGA supporter, many have fretted about the state of free speech in America.
Comedians like Dave Chappelle poked fun at an alleged chilling effect on free speech in the US after they signed contracts to do government-approved comedy acts at the Saudi Riyadh Comedy Festival.
According to The New York Times, Chappelle quipped during a set that took place over the weekend, “Right now in America, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you’ll get canceled. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m going to find out.
“It’s easier to talk here than it is in America,” he argued, later joking that if the US government ever cracked down on him, the uncharacteristic phrase he would use to alert people he had been compromised would be, “I stand with Israel.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Noah’s management for comment.
Fox News’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
