Not that long ago, on April 30, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Josh Johnson responded to the Supreme Court’s recent VRA decision by calling Justice Clarence Thomas an “Uncle Tom.” On Wednesday, it was radio host Charlamagne Tha God’s turn, as he showed up for the show’s “In My Opinion” segment, where he responded to a clip of Democratic Sen. Chris Coons by declaring that ‘“Mr. Coons’ is actually my nickname for Clarence Thomas.”
The context for the Coons clip was Trump judicial nominee John Marck doing that thing that judicial nominees of all stripes do: refuse to answer questions about any hypothetical case no matter how obvious the answer may seem to be. Coons was especially focused on the 22nd Amendment amid the idea that Trump may try to seek a third term, “Anybody else brave enough to say that the Constitution of the United States prevents President Trump from seeking a third term? Anybody willing to apply the constitution by its plain language in the 22nd Amendment? Nobody. All right, let's move on.”
Charlamagne replied, “Did you hear that sigh from Mr. Coons? That was so long, the stenographer had to type out "Sound of soul leaving senator's body." Also, side note: this was confusing for me because ‘Mr. Coons’ is actually my nickname for Clarence Thomas.”
The Daily Show’s sense of humor is an odd one. Repeated slurs directed at Thomas are considered hilarious, but earlier, Charlamagne condemned a montage of conservative commentators and Republican politicians for dismissing third-term talk as a joke or Trump trolling his critics:
Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Jokes about abusing power don't hit as hard when you're actually abusing power, okay? It's like breaking out a whoopee cushion after you already shit your pants in the middle of a meeting. Nobody's in the mood to laugh, okay? Even if Trump is kind of joking, he's doing it in a way that's becoming real. Like, you ever do a fun little bit for so long that it becomes a genuine part of your personality? Like, I would jokingly end every conversation with my 17-year-old daughter like, ‘Byeeee!’ And now it's the only way I can hang up the phone. Like, that's essentially what's happening to Trump, except worse because he can't seem to say ‘Byeeee’ to the job.”
Charlamagne then introduced the series of clips of Coons and Marck by proclaiming, “And no matter how many people say Trump is joking, his actual judicial nominees—the people who would interpret the Constitution to see if he's allowed to pull this off—they're clearly taking it seriously.”
Trump himself has admitted that the third-term talk is not meant to be taken seriously. However, The Daily Show’s history of declaring black conservatives to be race traitors or going after them in excessively vicious ways actually is serious. In addition to Johnson's remarks in April, Charlamagne himself teed up Rep. Jasmine Crockett in June 2024 to call Rep. Byron Donalds an “Uncle Tom,” while comparing him to “Uncle Clarence.” In November 2023, Leslie Jones ranted at Sen. Tim Scott, calling him a “[bleep]-ed ass anti-abortion, anti-gay, Milk Dud-looking mother[bleep]!"
Here is a transcript for the May 13 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
5/13/2026
11:15 PM ET
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Jokes about abusing power don't hit as hard when you're actually abusing power, okay? It's like breaking out a whoopee cushion after you already shit your pants in the middle of a meeting. Nobody's in the mood to laugh, okay? Even if Trump is kind of joking, he's doing it in a way that's becoming real. Like, you ever do a fun little bit for so long that it becomes a genuine part of your personality?
Like, I would jokingly end every conversation with my 17-year-old daughter like, "Byeeee!" And now it's the only way I can hang up the phone. Like, that's essentially what's happening to Trump, except worse because he can't seem to say "Byeeee" to the job. And no matter how many people say Trump is joking, his actual judicial nominees—the people who would interpret the Constitution to see if he's allowed to pull this off—they're clearly taking it seriously.
CHRIS COONS: Mr. Marck, is president Trump eligible to run for president again in 2028?
JOHN MARCK: Senator, with a—without considering all the facts and looking at everything, depending on what the situation is, this to me strikes as more of a hypothetical.
[jump cut]
COONS: Is he eligible to run for a third term under our Constitution?
MARCK: Um, I would have to review.
[jump cut]
COONS: Anybody else brave enough to say that the Constitution of the United States prevents President Trump from seeking a third term? Anybody willing to apply the Constitution by its plain language in the 22nd Amendment? Nobody. All right, let's move on.
CHARLAMAGNE: Did you hear that sigh from Mr. Coons? That was so long, the stenographer had to type out "Sound of soul leaving senator's body." Also, side note: this was confusing for me because "Mr. Coons" is actually my nickname for Clarence Thomas.
