Trevor Noah has a solution for Justin Trudeau’s blackface controversy

The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah offered his thoughts on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s history with blackface.

A controversy has surfaced involving the racist behavior of a world leader. While that may be old news in some places, it is a new issue for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Multiple pictures showing Trudeau in blackface resulted in reactions around the world including at The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

The Daily Show may be an American late night show but it is no stranger to covering racist and prejudice behavior by those in a position of power. Host Trevor Noah has been a standout voice when it comes to President Donald Trump’s history of racially charged remarks.

Noah was able to bring his perspective to the Trudeau scandal during Thursday night’s episode of The Daily Show. The Prime Minister’s public image has taken a hit, and deservedly so, just a month away from Canada’s election.

It wasn’t exactly a sympathetic or forgiving reaction from Trevor Noah. But the Daily Show host did offer some solutions on how to resolve the blackface epidemic.

Trevor Noah almost always has an appropriate, measured response to these type of topics. Rarely does he come across as angry or scolding nor does he let the comedy become secondary.

Perhaps it is Trudeau’s willingness to apologize rather than make excuses and volunteer other instances in which he wore blackface that inspired Noah to take it easy on him. Or perhaps it is the increased volume of these stories that has come out that makes Trudeau just one more example of a larger problem.

And rather than just point out the problem, Trevor Noah offers a solution. First he satirically compares makeup to firearms, calling on background checks, red flag laws, and buyback programs to be put into place. Then a commercial parody closes out the segment and Noah has made his point.

Trudeau isn’t likely to the last public figure to be exposed for wearing black or brown makeup. Especially with Halloween around the corner, the discussion of what is and isn’t appropriate when it comes to costumes will come up again. And while some want to see end to political correctness in Halloween, others like Trevor Noah prefer a more nuanced approach.

We will have to see what, if any, impact the blackface controversy has on Justin Trudeau’s reelection chances. We will also wait and see how The Daily Show with Trevor Noah handles the next blackface controversy to arise.