❓WHAT HAPPENED: Trevor Noah mocked the assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk during a stand-up performance.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Trevor Noah, Charlie Kirk, Dave Chappelle, and Jimmy Kimmel.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Noah made the remarks during a recent stand-up performance; Kirk was assassinated on September 10 at Utah Valley University.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The guy was shot while defending guns… I’m not even writing that as a joke. As a human, you have to admit that it is an incongruous, funny thing that happens. You’re onstage, like, ‘Let me tell you why people should have guns.’ Wa-pow!” Noah said, inaccurately.
🎯IMPACT: Noah’s comments sparked backlash, with critics pointing to double standards and insensitivity.
Former Daily Show host Trevor Noah is facing backlash for mocking the assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk. Kirk was assassinated on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. During a stand-up performance, Noah complained that comedians were being advised not to “say anything about Charlie Kirk” because there was “nothing funny about it.”
“Now you tested me. I mean, there’s nothing funny about it? Don’t say that, because then I’ll be like, ‘I’m sure there’s something funny about it,’” he continued.
“The guy was shot while defending guns… I’m not even writing that as a joke. As a human, you have to admit that is an incongruous, funny thing that happens. “You’re onstage, like, ‘Let me tell you why people should have guns.’ Wa-pow!” he added—inaccurately, as Kirk was actually discussing transgender mass shooters when he was murdered.
Noah cast himself as a martyr for comedy following the resulting backlash, comparing the public’s anger at his remarks to historical jokes about President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and complaining that audiences shouldn’t be “terrorized” into silence.
However, critics have pointed to Noah’s recent praise for Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival, where he had lauded the sharia state as “moving in the right direction” on civil liberties, despite its severe blasphemy and censorship laws.
Noah is not the only alleged comedian under scrutiny. Jimmy Kimmel also faced criticism for falsely suggesting that Kirk’s assassin was affiliated with the MAGA movement. Meanwhile, Education Secretary Linda McMahon has urged universities to sanction faculty who applauded the killing online.
Conservative activist Scott Presler claimed to have received over 51,000 tips identifying individuals, many of them teachers, who mocked Kirk’s death on social media. A website called “Charlie’s Murderers” was launched to document these posts, and some have reportedly been fired or disciplined in response.
Trevor Noah jokes about Charlie Kirk’s assassination during his standup set
These people are sick pic.twitter.com/U2W2XRwJVA
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 9, 2025
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