While Hasan Minhaj was preparing to roast the president and the press, in near-equal measure, at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump was in the middle of Pennsylvania calling major news organizations “fake news.”
“A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation’s capital right now,” Trump said to cheers from his fawning crowd. “I could not be more thrilled to be more than 100 miles away from the Washington swamp with a much larger crowd and much better people.”
But Trevor Noah said Monday night that he wasn’t quite buying Trump’s characterization of the annual dinner as a “sad” event, just because he wasn’t in the room. With that, he invited The Daily Show correspondent himself out to celebrate his successful night, complete with boxer’s robe and championship belt.
“I didn't just speak truth to power, Trevor, I kicked power in the balls!” Minhaj said triumphantly. “You’ve been trying to take down Trump for a year and a half. I did it in one night.”
“It was a total knockout finish,” he continued. “I got up, I gave my speech, and 25 minutes later Donald Trump resigned the presidency. He cried. He apologized to America for wasting our time, his hair fell off and then when he bent over to pick it up, he split his pants. You’re welcome, America, we did it!”
When Noah informed him that Trump was still president, Minhaj said, dejectedly, “So all my roasting had no effect?”
Without Trump in the ballroom to actually feel the burn of Minhaj’s jokes in the moment, there’s no way of knowing how he would have reacted to the digs about how inept he is. If anyone is going to “take down” President Donald Trump, it’s probably going to be President Donald Trump.