Claim: A video claims to show US television host and comedian Trevor Noah criticising the Pakistani army in an episode of The Daily Show.
Fact: The claim is false as the video, which is from an old episode of The Daily Show from 2015, is not about Pakistan. The comedic skit was a criticism of Myanmar’s military.
On 11 September 2024, a user on X posted a video clip (archive) with an Urdu caption that translated into English reads, “Trevor Noah also knows how much the military is involved in politics in Pakistan”.
In the video clip, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah can be seen reading from a newspaper, while a man in uniform holds a gun on his head. He reads, “For true democracy, the people need a strong guiding hand from the military, which is always welcome within the realm of our great nation. Now smile and end the show”.
The clip, which is a comedy skit typical of Noah’s style of political satire, was shared on social media with the claim that it is a criticism of the Pakistani military. The claim was likely shared in context of the escalation of political turmoil and the Pakistani military’s alleged interference in civilian governance.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse image search on the video’s keyframes on Google Lens, which led to a complete video of The Daily Show by Trevor Noah, uploaded on YouTube on 13 November 2015.
The video is titled, “The Myanmar Daily Show: The Daily Show”. The satirical description of the video also reads that “In a Burmese edition of The Daily Show, Trevor examines Myanmar’s election of pro-democracy Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament”.
In the longer version uploaded on the channel, the host discussed Myanmar’s 2015 election and the win of pro-democracy Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament. He performs the skit on the role of the military in Myanmar’s politics.
The clip in the claim begins at the 4:47 minute mark of the complete version of the video. At this point in the comedic skit, the host is interrupted by a man dressed in a military uniform, who hands him a paper and asks him to read from it while holding him at gunpoint.
Thus, it is confirmed that the episode from Trevor Noah’s show is not related to and is not a comment on the Pakistani military’s alleged interference in the country’s politics.
Virality
On X, former National Assembly deputy speaker and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Qasim Khan Suri also shared the clip with the suggestion that it is from a recent episode of Trevor Noah’s show. Suri’s post garnered 250.3k views, 18,000 likes and 8,000 reposts.
It was also shared on Facebook here.
Conclusion: Trevor Noah did not comment on the Pakistani military in a comedy skit on The Daily Show. The clip is not from a recent episode either. It is from 2015 and the skit is a criticism of Myanmar military’s junta.
Background image in cover photo: Getty Images
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