The Daily Show's Trevor Noah couldn't help but wonder if Donald Trump was trying to bridge the gap with Hispanic voters when he whipped out the phrase "bad hombres" at the debate Wednesday night. Trump, in his response to a question about border security, vowed to go after drug dealers and "keep drugs out of our country." "We have some bad hombres here and we're gonna get 'em out," the Republican presidential candidate said.
Noah seized on Trump's Spanglish, wondering whether there are "Mexican people at home going, 'You know, I know Trump thinks we're all criminals and rapists, but he said hombres. Yeah. Maybe we're not so different after all, man.'" Noah then imagined Trump congratulating himself on learning a new word and deploying it successfully.
An alternate explanation for Trump's phrase came from Trump surrogate Jeffrey Lord on CNN, who said the word came "from American television westerns in the 1950s." Lord's CNN colleague Anderson Cooper was quick to note that 1950s television may not be "the best benchmark for what is good language," and Noah's coverage was similarly unforgiving — watch Noah take on Trump attempts at foreign language, and all the other memorable moments from last night's debate, in the clip below. Becca Stanek
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
