Trevor Noah makes the black case for keeping Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in office

Trevor Noah on Ralph Northam's blackface apology tour
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Daily Show)

Virginia, "a state that used to be known for things like slavery, plantations, and being the capital of the Confederacy," is now seeing that "proud" history "tainted by accusations of racism," Trevor Noah deadpanned on Monday's Daily Show. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) capped a week of blackface scandal by sitting down with Gayle King at CBS News, and in a "baller" move, Northam said "he should keep his job because he's learned his lesson," Noah said. "Ironically, he's learned so much about black history that it's getting him into even more trouble."

Noah played the clip about indentured servants in early colonial Virginia. "Poor Northam, man," he said. "Seems like no matter what he says, he just makes it worse. Because almost everyone who saw that clip had the same reaction as Gayle. They're like, 'Uh, indentured servants? That's a nice way to say slavery. Like, what do you call blackface? Extreme tanning?'" But "some historians do say the first Africans to arrive in Virginia were actually indentured servants, not slaves," he pointed out. "I'm not gonna lie: One of the things that makes Northam so entertaining is that he's like the Michael Scott of politics, right? Every time he tries to get out of a hole, he just keeps digging himself deeper."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.