Trevor Noah: ‘Don’t have to be a rocket scientist to draw lines’ between Trump, acts of domestic terrorism

Late-night host Trevor Noah criticized President Trump on Monday night over his rhetoric, saying you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to “draw lines” between what the president says and both the shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue and the bombs mailed to prominent Democrats.

“There were three incidents that took place recently, and I don’t think you have to be a rocket scientist to draw the lines between these people and the rhetoric that is parroted by the president of the United States right now,” Noah said during a between-the-scenes feature.

{mosads}“And I understand that we live in a difficult time and space where, you know, we have to be careful to not jump and say, ‘You made this happen, Donald Trump.’ But we can also live in a space where we say as humans, ‘But as president, we would hope that you would try to avoid or dissuade people from doing the same things,’” he continued.

Noah said it appeared that Trump’s message following the incidents has been to point the blame at the media.

“It seems like his message post that has been, ‘This is not my fault, I have nothing to do with any of this, and if anything, the media is to blame because they’re the enemy of the people, they report certain stories that I don’t believe are true, so they’re at fault,’” Noah said of the president.

Trump tweeted on Monday that the “great anger in our country” was caused by inaccurate and false reporting.

“The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly,” he wrote. “That will do much to put out the flame of Anger and Outrage and we will then be able to bring all sides together in Peace and Harmony.”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during a Monday briefing that the president was not placing blame for the recent acts of violence.

“The president’s not responsible for these acts,” she said. “Again, the very first action the president did was condemn these heinous acts. The very first thing that the media did was condemn the president.”

Trump on Friday rejected calls to temper his political rhetoric in the aftermath of a nationwide bomb scare.

“I think I’ve been toned down, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told reporters.

The president also condemned Saturday’s shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 people, calling for unity and more civil discourse.

Noah said that Trump’s call for unity was a call to come together under Trump’s rules.

“That’s what he preaches when he preaches unity,” Noah told the audience. “Trump’s not saying ‘let’s come together.’ He’s saying ‘let’s come together’ in the same way aliens come to Earth and they’re like ‘let’s come together as we pillage the entire earth.’”