Trevor Noah has a brilliant plan to stop voter suppression
Voter suppression is an issue across the United States, but the most egregious example is in Georgia, and Trevor Noah on Thursday's Daily Show made a suggestion that might just turn things around.
The governor's race in the state is extremely close, between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp. Kemp happens to be the secretary of state, overseeing elections and voter registration, and Georgia has a law where voter registrations must match exactly to DMV and Social Security information. If not, the registration is put on hold. "It's funny how this happens with voting, but it never stops the IRS," Noah said. "The IRS is never like, 'Oh we have 'Trevok Noah,' I guess you don't have to pay taxes this year.' No, they'd be like, 'Hey, Trevor Noah, you misspelled your name dumbass, and you owe us $20,000.'"
Georgia's population is approximately 32 percent black, and a list of voter registrations on hold is nearly 70 percent black. "Well, well, well, my old friend racism, I've been expecting you," Noah said. You don't have to say who you're targeting to target someone, he added, "you just have to know which rules are likely to hit them the most." If he wanted to block white people from voting, he said, all he'd have to do is say "no pumpkin spice lattes in the voting booth."
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.
In order to ensure that they can vote, Noah suggests that every black person in the United States register as a Republican. "Just say you're gonna vote red," he said, but do whatever you want once you've got a ballot. "I guarantee you, if the GOP thinks that black people are voting for them, they will make sure that your vote counts. They're going to be waving Trayvons into the voting booth like a third base coach." Watch the video — which uses Kanye West's love of the MAGA hat to prove Noah's point — below. Catherine Garcia
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Political cartoons for December 6Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a pardon for Hernandez, word of the year, and more
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Codeword: December 6, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Trump tightens restrictions for work visasSpeed Read The length of work permits for asylum seekers and refugees has been shortened from five years to 18 months
-
Supreme Court revives Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read Texas Republicans can use the congressional map they approved in August at President Donald Trump’s behest
-
Boat strike footage rattles some lawmakersSpeed Read ‘Disturbing’ footage of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat also shows the second strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage
-
Trump boosts gas cars in fuel economy rollbackspeed read Watering down fuel efficiency standards is another blow to former President Biden’s effort to boost electric vehicles
-
Hegseth’s Signal chat put troops in peril, probe findsSpeed Read The defense secretary risked the lives of military personnel and violated Pentagon rules, says new report
-
Trump pardons Texas Democratic congressmanspeed read Rep. Henry Cuellar was charged with accepting foreign bribes tied to Azerbaijan and Mexico
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
