Trevor Noah doesn't understand why the White House ever protected Rob Porter, Trump's paper-pusher

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Daily Show)

published 9 February 2018

Sometimes you just have to shake your head. Trevor Noah began Thursday's Daily Show with Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity chief Jeanette Manfra's recent acknowledgment that "an exceptionally small number" of states had their voting systems "successfully penetrated" by the Russian government in 2016. "She delivered that line like it was supposed to sound comforting" he said. "It's like a doctor saying, 'Good news, Brian, you have an exceptionally small number of tumors in your brain.'" The only thing more worrisome, he said, is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's "wimpy" and "mind-boggling" shrug that the Russians are going to hack, so get used to it.

Noah turned to Rob Porter, the White House staff secretary who resigned Wednesday amid accusations he abused his two ex-wives. "You know, every time I think I've reached the highest level of disgust for this administration, I'm right, but then they invent another level," he said. "I miss the days when White House staffers got fired for fun stuff — you know, Spicey couldn't talk, the Mooch couldn't shut up, Steve Bannon couldn't shower."

But in this case, Noah said, "not only did the White House have a domestic abuser in its midst, a lot of the people there, especially Chief of Staff and alleged 'adult in the room' John Kelly, just ignored it for months. And with the job Porter had, there's no reason that they couldn't get somebody else. ... You oversee every piece of paper that lands on Trump's desk? You mean, this desk? Oh, tough job: Trump's desk is balder than his head." Seriously, he added, "if your job is to bring reading materials to a guy who doesn't read, then that's not much of a job. It's like being Kevin Spacey's agent." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.