New ‘Daily Show’ Host Trevor Noah Surprises Some With Response to Deadly Oregon Shooting

The new host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" surprised some on Thursday with how he reacted to the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, that left 10 people dead and seven others injured.

Trevor Noah, whose first show was on Monday, opened in a much different way than his predecessor, Jon Stewart, who often advocated for more gun control following mass killings involving firearms.

“By now, as you may have heard, a few hours ago, there was a tragic event that took place in Oregon,” Noah said. “You know, normally in one of these situations, I’d just speak from the heart. But honestly this is not a normal situation for me."

Noah said he didn't even have time to feel or think about what all had happened, acknowledging that the same was probably true for many in his audience. But while expressing grief for those who lost their lives in the shooting and for their families, Noah refused to let the tragic situation affect how he did his show.

"I guess I can do what I do best, and that’s try to make people laugh. Let’s do our show," Noah said before diving into jokes about politicians like Donald Trump.

@TheDailyShow @Trevornoah Was disappointed with the lack of response to shooting. "Didn't have time to think about it..."??

— CYW (@miz_glammie) October 2, 2015

.@TrevorNoah acknowledged the #Umpquashooting but did not give it the usual #DailyShow treatment: https://t.co/uQYqp3rzxT

— USA TODAY Life (@usatodaylife) October 2, 2015

I've loved Trevor Noah's first week as Daily Show host, but glossing over the Oregon shooting and moving on was weeeeeeeeak.

— Ozzie Mejia (@Ozz_Mejia) October 2, 2015

Interesting that Trevor Noah spent abt 30 secs on the Oregon shooting before beginning the show. Feel like Stewart would've spent more time.

— Josh Katzowitz (@joshkatzowitz) October 2, 2015

The response was one that was noticeably different from how Stewart often reacted in the wake of such shootings. Following the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, over the summer, Stewart lamented what he called the "disparity of response" in gun violence crimes compared with Islamic terrorism.

“We invaded two countries and spent trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives and now fly unmanned death machines over, like, five or six different counties, all to keep Americans safe," Stewart said.

"We’ve got to do whatever we can – we’ll torture people. We’ve got to do whatever we can to keep Americans safe," Stewart added. "[But] nine people shot in a church, ‘Hey, what are you going go to do? Crazy is as crazy is, right?'"

"That’s the part I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my head around," Stewart said.

(H/T: Time)

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