As Twitchy reported Tuesday, “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah was slammed for his joke calling France’s World Cup win “an African victory,” apparently not understanding that 1) Africa is not a country, and 2) many French citizens are black.
TONIGHT: Congratulations to Africa on winning the 2018 Men’s World Cup! pic.twitter.com/ly1wxU1VzT
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 17, 2018
Noah’s joke was so bad that the French ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud, wrote a lengthy letter explaining that “unlike in the United States of America, France does not refer to its citizens based on their race, religion or origin.”
France calls out America for being too obsessed with race and identity politics — and they're not wrong. https://t.co/6hQ0lJTNMG
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) July 19, 2018
Nice work, Noah — you made the whole country look bad with that stinker.
I really don’t understand how this reality could upset the French ambassador so much to compel him to write a formal letter to an American satire tv show
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) July 19, 2018
He said « It is an African team. They couldn’t get this suntan in the south of France » Which means you can’t be French if you are black. Exactly the argument of the far-right. In French terms, it is horrifying. https://t.co/rRzrd0TWks
— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) July 19, 2018
End of the argument with @Trevornoah He didn’t refer to a double identity. He said »they are African. They couldn’t get this suntan in the south of France ». i.e They can’t be French because they are black. The argument of the white supremacist.
— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) July 19, 2018
Damn, Araud isn’t mincing words.
https://twitter.com/ron4sc/status/1019698712237543425
Noah decided to read the letter to his studio audience and told them, “I’m not trying to be an a**hole, but I think it’s more a reflection of France’s colonialism.”
Yeah, nice save.
Like Trevor responded, why can’t they be BOTH?
— NotTheGreenGoblin (@TeamSymbiote) July 19, 2018
Because the players themselves don't like when people say that
— claireavergoz (@VergozClaire) July 19, 2018
Any evidence of the please?
— Mr Flair (@vallyflair) July 19, 2018
@benmendy23’s response is one of MANY reactions from them. pic.twitter.com/7MqnzyQr0t
— Fabienne CASSAGNE (@FabienneCASSAGN) July 19, 2018
It’s difficult to see in that tweet, but player Benjamin Mendy “fixed” a tweet from a popular sports site to make all the players’ flags French:
?? Pogba
?? Tolisso
?? Mendy
?? Umtiti
?? Rami
?? Fekir
?? Kimpembe
?? N’Zonzi
?? Matuidi
?? Mandanda
?? Sidibe
?? Kante
?? Lloris
?? Hernández
?? Dembele
?? Mbappe
?? Griezmann
?? Giroud
?? Lemarfixed ?
— Benjamin Mendy (@benmendy23) July 17, 2018
Nice. But go ahead and keep on fighting a battle that even the players themselves don’t want any part of.
Maybe the good ambassador can intercede in behalf of all those French born Africans and Arabs who struggle finding jobs because they’re not ethnically French. The picture the ambassador paints is nothing more than an ideal, a slogan. That France does not exist in real life.
— Moose (@moose_ali) July 18, 2018
Dear sir, there is no such thing as a French ethnicity. There are people of different colors, identities and religions living together as French citizens. We do fight racism and unequal opportunities which are undoutbly real in France, but these are two different things
— Pierre Wellhoff (@PWellhoff) July 18, 2018
https://twitter.com/MGaouad/status/1019718911988830208
Maybe Noah could lay off the race angle and just admit it was a bad joke?
Related:
'SHAME ON YOU'! Daily Show's Trevor Noah SLAMMED for 'RACIST' take on France's World Cup win https://t.co/ilhOzGfXoY
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 17, 2018