Comedian Trevor Noah said Wednesday it is an “incongruous, funny thing” how Turning Point USA cofounder Charlie Kirk was killed “while defending guns.”
Noah said comedians in the United States are “shitting themselves” over Kirk’s murder, who was debating students on the Utah Valley University campus when he was shot on Sept. 10. An attendee asked Kirk if he knew how many mass shooters there had been in the U.S. in the last decade. Kirk countered, “Counting or not counting gang violence?”
Kirk was shot immediately after, without getting a response to his question.
Noah said comedians are being pressured not to discuss Kirk’s murder, and pushed back the idea that “there’s nothing funny” about it.
“‘Oh, there’s nothing funny.’ No, don’t say that because as a comedian, I’ll be like, ‘I’m sure there’s something funny about it!’ The guy was shot while defending guns! Do you understand how — I’m not even writing that as a joke!” Noah said during a stand-up routine.
“As a human, you have to admit that is an incongruous, funny thing that happens. You are there, you’re like, onstage, and you’re like, ‘Let me tell you why people should have guns.’ Wa-pow!” he continued.
Noah added that the “whole thing is ridiculous,” and the purpose of comedy is to “find the moment of solace.” He also said people telling him not to joke about certain topics only makes him “find the funny” in them.
Noah said that the U.S.’s response to Kirk’s murder “was to limit speech,” instead of limiting “the thing that ended his life.” He also said it is “weird” how Kirk’s assassin “wrote jokes on the bullets,” and that it is both “terrible and funny when you have time to think about it.”
ABC pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Sept. 17 after he claimed “the [Make America Great Again] gang” was trying to characterize Kirk’s assassin as “anything other than one of them.” The broadcasting company said it “strongly objects” to Kimmel’s comments.
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Kimmel’s show returned on Sept. 23, and the host said, “It was never my intention to blame any specific group.”
Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s producer, said Kimmel’s statement was “not good enough” and suggested the comedian apologize “for saying the shooter was MAGA.”
