After seven years in the role, “The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah signed off for the final time Thursday evening.
Noah, who was chosen for the role in 2015 following the departure of longtime host Jon Stewart, took a few minutes at the end of the episode to share his gratefulness and the things he has learned over the years as the late-night host.
The South African comedian described his time as the face of the Comedy Central program as “a wild ride” and the “craziest journey that I didn’t predict, I didn’t expect.”
Leading up to his final goodbye, Noah spent most of the episode reminiscing on memories and joking about his departure and future plans with his correspondents, also known as the “World’s Fakest News Team.”
When it was his time to sign off, Noah began by thanking the audience and then shared three things he said he learned at the helm of the show. The first being that “issues are real” and politics are a made up way of trying to solve the issues.
Acknowledging he has only been in America for a “relatively short time,” Noah went on to explain the divisiveness between the two-party system and said issues aren’t Republican or Democrat.
The left-leaning host, who occasionally took shots at the Democratic Party on the satirical news show, even credited former President Trump for his prison reform policies and said he wished he could have better explained the importance in not fixating on the party a person may associate with.
The second thing Noah said he learned is that context matters and without it “nothing makes sense.” He noted that the world reacts to short video clips where what happened before the video and after the video may not be included or even publicly available.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have an opinion immediately,” Noah suggested. “Maybe we should wait and see what happened.”
The final learning he shared with the audience is that the world is “a friendlier place than the Internet and the news will make you think.”
Noah ended his farewell address with a spew of “thank yous” to his and the show’s fans, his family and his coworkers. He said “The Daily Show” taught him to “be grateful for everything he has.”
“I remember when we started the show, we couldn’t get enough people to fill the audience,” Noah said. “Thank you to the people who watch, the people who share the clips, everyone who’s had an opinion, everyone who’s been kind enough and gracious enough.”
He also thanked the people who “hate watched” the show and said he is eternally grateful to them because they helped get the ratings.
Noah also issued a specific thank you to Black women. He credited his intelligence and success to the influences of his mother, grandmother, aunt and other “Black women in his life.”
“If you truly want to learn about America, talk to Black women. Unlike everybody else, Black women can’t afford to f*** around and find out. Black people understand how hard it is when things go bad, especially in America,” Noah said with tear-filled eyes. (Fox)