With the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh almost certainly imminent despite the powerful testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, on Thursday night’s Daily Show, Trevor Noah examined the greatest weapon that Donald Trump wields: Victimhood. In a candid, eight-minute-long “Between the Scenes” monologue, Noah broke down how Trump is systematically undermining the #MeToo movement by making men out to be the real victims.
That much was apparent this week, when Trump openly mocked Ford at a Mississippi rally and then lamented that Kavanaugh on the other hand, has had his life utterly destroyed — implying that any man could potentially be next in being falsely accused. This is a strategy Trump has used time and time over again, from back when he called Mexicans “criminals and rapists” as a candidate, to his justification for keeping refugee children in cages.
“For me personally, I find Trump’s most powerful tool is that he knows how to wield victimhood, he knows how to offer victimhood to the people who have the least claim to it,” Noah said. “Because you realize what he’s doing in that moment, is that he’s saying, the real victims of the #MeToo movement are men. They’re the real victims.”
Noah, who was born into the Apartheid in South Africa, compared what’s currently going on in America to when the movement was repealed in 1991 and whites living in the country suddenly found themselves victimized. “How did you go from being the person in power to being the victim overnight?” Noah asked.
Bringing things back to Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Noah asked what the worst thing that could happen to Brett Kavanaugh would be. “The worst thing that could happen is that he’d go back to being a federal judge on one of the most important courts in the land. That’s what he goes down to, if he fails.”
“What’s the worst thing that happens to Dr. Ford?” he continued. “She gets mocked by the president of the United States for coming forward with a story about sexual assault.”