Al Franken, who resigned from Senate after unwanted kissing claim, among guest ‘Daily Show’ hosts next year

close

Video

'Daily Show' host blasts Democrats for funding 'extreme' Republican candidates

On MSNBC, Trevor Noah scolded Democrats for interfering in the 2022 elections by boosting more conservative candidates in GOP primaries.

The stark partisanship of late night TV went into overdrive this week after the announcement of ten "Daily Show" guest hosts for the retiring Trevor Noah, with two of the ten being ex-Democratic Party officials. 

The rest include a comedian who resigned from her show to become a full-time liberal activist, another who declared "hatred" for all Trump voters, and yet another who suggested that "Latin people for Republicans are like roaches for Raid." There are no right-leaning hosts. 

Deadline.com reported this week that the list includes Al Franken, Kal Penn, Chelsea Handler, Sarah Silverman, Leslie Jones, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minaj, D.L. Hughley, Wanda Sykes and Marlon Wayans. 

Each will host the Comedy Central program for a week before a permanent host is finally announced. 

TREVOR NOAH ANNOUNCES EXIT FROM 'THE DAILY SHOW' AFTER SEVEN YEARS

UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 12: Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., leaves the Democratic Senate Policy luncheon in the Capitol on December 12, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Guest host Franken is a former Democratic Senator from Minnesota and past "Saturday Night Live" cast member who famously wrote the book, "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and other Observations." Franken resigned from the Senate on January 2, 2018 in the wake of unwanted, forcible kissing allegations. 

Penn is an actor who, in April 2009, joined the Obama administration as the Principal Associate Editor in the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Comedian Chelsea Handler will also be guest hosting the Comedy Central program. In 2017, she left her Netflix show to become a full-time liberal activist. In a statement at the time promoted by the pro-abortion group Emily’s List, she explained: "I have joined forces with Emily’s List to elect more women to public office, register people to vote and campaign for candidates who are fighting for women’s rights."  

One of the rotating hosts is actor John Leguizamo. In October 2020, he lashed out at Hispanics who vote Republican, saying, "Latin people for Republicans are like roaches for Raid. Let's just get real." He added that "there's a level of self-hate or just lack of care for the rest of your Latin brothers and sisters who are in cages, who are being demonized by [Trump]." 

Actor John Leguizamo arrives to AARP The Magazine's 14th Annual Movies For Grownups Awards Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on February 2, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.  (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Former "SNL" cast member Leslie Jones will also host the "Daily Show." On her podcast in October 2022, she denounced the idea of Republican Herschel Walker winning a Senate seat in Georgia: "If somebody like Herschel Walker can go up for office and win, then they’re basically calling us f–ing idiots. And what’s to show we’re not f–ing idiots by letting somebody like that get into office." 

Another host is actress and comedian Sarah Silverman. In the spring of 2020, during the pandemic, she tweeted of conservative hosts: "I don’t think hatred is productive, but it’s what I feel towards these people. Hatred." 

Other rotating hosts include Hasan Minhaj, who called Republicans "death eaters" in 2017, D.L. Hughley, Wanda Sykes and Marlon Wayans. In 2018, on his sitcom "Marlon," Wayans called black conservatives "sellouts." 

TREVOR NOAH’S ‘DAILY SHOW’ TENURE WAS ‘PROFOUND DISASTER’ THAT FAILED TO FILL JON STEWART’S SHOES, CRITICS SAY

Trevor Noah arrives to the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. (Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital spoke to Christian Toto, the editor of HollywoodinToto.com. He said of "The Daily Show," "The show's ratings are broken, perhaps beyond repair, yet the powers that be chose a gaggle of progressive talents to guest host the show until a permanent replacement for Noah can be found."

Toto wondered why Comedy Central won’t "mix things up" and "drop a libertarian or two into the mix and see what happens." However, he concluded, "The folks behind the scenes want to keep the same narrative in place, and that means free-thinking comics need not apply."

The Democratic-friendly tone of the new "Daily Show" hosts tracks with its history. NewsBusters reported on Friday that 86 percent of retiring host Trevor Noah’s guests, from 2015 to 2022, were Democratic Party affiliated. Writer Alex Christy explained, "Noah had on 159 partisan guests including 109 unique individuals. Of these 159 guests, 137, or 86.16 percent, were Democrats or in some way affiliated with the Democratic Party." 

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives of Trevor Noah and Paramount Media Networks (the owner of Comedy Central) but did not hear back.  

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP