Late night hosts look at America in quarantine: Toilet paper, guns, alcohol, inept leadership

Late night hosts on American under quarantine

America will be at the mercy of COVID-19 until we create a vaccine or find a cure — and one "unlikely source" of hope is cigarette giant British American Tobacco, Trevor Noah said on Thursday's Daily Social Distancing Show. "And you know what? I'm not surprised. They spent years destroying people's lungs — of course they know what it's all about. Coronavirus is basically their competition."

Noah threw out some numbers tied to the coronavirus: 1 million infections globally, 1,000-plus U.S. deaths Wednesday, 6.6 million U.S. weekly jobless claims, and a record 3.7 million people applying to buy guns. "So during this pandemic, the two things people in America want the most are guns and toilet paper," he said. "If you want to protect yourself from outsiders, you don't need a gun, people — think out of the box. You just need a recording of someone coughing, on a loop."

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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.