On Wednesday, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah took his audiences step by step through the reasons that President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are secretly aimed at one immigrant in particular: his wife, Melania.
Yes, his argument was satire and played for laughs, but his critique of Trump’s hardline policies made #DontDeportMelania a top trending topic on Twitter overnight and into Thursday morning.
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“I’ve started to notice something that’s got me really concerned,” Noah said. “I think Donald Trump might be trying to deport Melania.”
“You might be asking, why would he want to deport his wife?” Noah continued. “I don’t know!”
Noah said he suspected Trump might be fed up with their reported marital problems, including the rumor that Melania Trump “barely spends any time at the White House.”
Noah added, “It may have even created some tension between them when Trump allegedly banged a porn star and then paid her to be quiet and then the whole country found out about it.”
The South Africa-born comedian started his segment by saying that he and Melania Trump have things in common: “We’re both immigrants. Neither of us would be here if it wasn’t for Donald Trump. And, I’m just going to put it out there: We’re both style icons.”
What then unfolded was Noah connecting random reports and rumors and coming up with a conspiracy theory-style argument for how the president’s primary complaints about immigrants and immigration could be directly applied to his wife, a native of Slovenia who immigrated to the U.S. in 1996.
These complaints include immigrants working here illegally or using so-called “chain migration” to bring their families to the United States. Noah pointed to reports about Melania Trump allegedly working as a model without a proper visa, then noted that she failed to hold a promised news conference to clear up questions about the controversy.
He also brought up her ability to score a so-called Einstein visa, which is reserved for immigrants with “extraordinary ability” and “sustained national and international acclaim,” then to obtain green cards for her parents who became U.S. citizens in 2018.
“As if this wasn’t enough evidence that Donald Trump is trying to deport his wife, then how do you explain the new policy his administration announced this week?” Noah asked, referring to a policy that would prevent immigrants on government assistance from staying in the country.
“Well, guess who lives in a free house provided by the United States?” he said. “Melania Mother——-Trump!”
Noah pledged he’s not going to let Trump deport his wife and urged viewers to tweet the hashtag #DontDeportMelania, “because if this great immigrant is forced to leave this country, then the United States can never truly be best!”
People took up Noah’s pledge and ran with it on Twitter:
Leave it to Trevor to finally make sense of Trump’s immigration Executive Actions. #DontDeportMelania https://t.co/AvK9yh8JDE
— M A Miller (@MAMRedPill) August 15, 2019
#DontDeportMelania Who would be there to carry out the Soviet theme for the White House Christmas decor!?! pic.twitter.com/wQJ13Ozyy8
— Imagidadnation (@imagidadnation) August 15, 2019
Hmmm… a @realDonaldTrump conspiracy theory I can digest because it makes sense. Thank you @Trevornoah for exposing the truth.
We know it's out there.#dontdeportmelania #TrumpIsADisgrace— chrys-anthony (@chrys_anthony_) August 15, 2019
But others, even some apparent Noah fans, were not amused:
Trevor is just doing his usual race baiting and showing us that comedians took the easy way out when Trump got into office. Stand ups, light comedy chat shows, all gone; replaced with lazy hate and bad writing. Another left nut bashes his new home. #FreedomOfSpeech
— VeganKing (@Ironfistmonk) August 15, 2019
#TrevorNoah as a fellow 'immigrant South African to a foreign land', do you understand the difference between legal and illegal? I like your comedy, not so much ur politics, but come on. This is giving SASSERS a bad name brother.#deportmelania #IllegalImmigration
— Jaco Stadler (@jacostadler) August 15, 2019