Tuesday's Republican debate on Fox Business was generally regarded as more substantive than the previous one, hosted by CNBC, Trevor Noah said on Wednesday's Daily Show, and that's "true, because bullshit is also a substance." To sort out truth from fiction, Noah brought on senior political analyst Desi Lydic for a new segment, "What the Actual Fact?" Essentially, Lydic did your run-of-the-mill fact-checking of several assertions by Republican candidates, then delivered the "false" verdict in a charmingly witty (or smugly biting, depending on your view) manner.
If you're going to say a politician lied on national TV, you can do it in a number of ways. For Ben Carson's erroneous statement on the effects raising minimum wage has on unemployment, for example, Lydic said she is "rating his statement as 'false,' or as Dr. Ben Carson calls it, 'autobiographical.'" For Donald Trump's assertion that he met Vladimir Putin in a greenroom, she rated it "'wrong but adorable,' like a puppy snorting cocaine." And when Carly Fiorina jumped in and said she'd met Putin, but not in a greenroom, Lydic found that "since it's such a weird thing to lie about, I'm giving that one a 'Rachel Dolezal.'" She saved her most cutting bit of truth-squadding for last. Watch below. Peter Weber
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