Trevor Noah’s Trump-bashing over coronavirus wins him fans – in China

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His nightly TV audience in the U.S. is far smaller than those of other late-night hosts, but Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show” has been winning lots of new fans – in communist China, according to a report.

Chinese state-controlled media outlets have been posting Noah’s jokes about the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak – and audiences eager to bash the U.S. response have been loving them, The New York Times reported.

“Trevor has the correct value system,” one commenter wrote on social media, according to the report.

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“Is he kissing the a— of China?” another asked. “No, he’s just telling the truth.”

Also winning a favorable reaction was an appearance on Noah’s show by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who said a recent reduction in coronavirus cases in China was “very good news.”

Chinese media has been downplaying the impact of the virus there – referring to many stories as “rumors” – while using words like “purgatory” and “apocalypse” to describe the situation in Europe and the U.S., the Times reported.

Trevor Noah on set during a taping of "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" in New York City, Sept. 29, 2015. (Associated Press)

Meanwhile, a Chinese writer in Wuhan who has been trying to draw attention to the Communist Party’s shortcomings in handling the virus has been facing backlash on social media.

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When the Wuhan crisis was at its peak, many Chinese read the writings of Wang Fang, known as Fang Fang, to find comfort, The Times noted. But opinions of the writer suddenly changed after reports that her work would be translated into English.

The editor of China’s Global Times wrote that Fang Fang’s writings would be used by China’s critics abroad and that Chinese citizens might “pay the price for Fang Fang’s fame in the West," according to The New York Times.

Noah, 36, a native of South Africa, became host of "The Daily Show" in 2015, succeeding Jon Stewart.

This season, Noah's "Daily Show" has attracted about 240,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic per night, compared to about 1.2 million viewers for shows hosted by Seth Meyers and James Corden, 1.9 million for Jimmy Kimmel, 2 million for Jimmy Fallon and 3.5 million for Stephen Colbert, according to BroadwayWorld.com.