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New 'Daily Show' host Trevor Noah under fire for tweets

Newly named “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah is facing backlash over old tweets in which he made controversial jokes about Jews, Israelis and women.

Almost bumped a Jewish kid crossing the road. He didn't look b4 crossing but I still would hav felt so bad in my german car! — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) September 18, 2009

South Africans know how to recycle like israel knows how to be peaceful. — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) June 2, 2010

Behind every successful Rap Billionaire is a double as rich Jewish man. #BeatsByDreidel — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) May 12, 2014

"Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I'm sexy!" - fat chicks everywhere. — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) October 14, 2011

Noah, a relatively unknown South African comedian, was named as Jon Stewart's replacement on the Comedy Central show on Monday morning.

Fellow comedian Roseanne Barr slammed Noah for his jokes.

@Trevornoah U should cease sexist & anti semitic 'humor' about jewish women & Israel. #comedyCentral — Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) March 31, 2015

UPDATE (3:23 p.m.): Comedy Central came to Noah's defense on Tuesday afternoon:

Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included. To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.

Noah has still not issued a public statement on the controversy, though he seemed to address it in a quickly deleted tweet on Tuesday morning: “Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter," he wrote.

UPDATE (5:55p.m.): Noah issued the following comment via Twitter:

To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian. — Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 31, 2015