After days of Mueller report coverage, Trevor Noah shifted focus to the 2020 presidential race, fully under way even 18 months out from election day. On Monday night, CNN hosted five hours of town halls with a handful of Democratic candidates, highlighting prominent differences in campaign strategy.

Elizabeth Warren came prepared with reams of policy ideas and calculations, including a wealth tax of “two cents on every dollar above $50m”, on the 75,000 largest fortunes in the US to pay for universal childcare, universal pre-K, universal college and debt forgiveness for student loans.

For those who don’t have five hours to spare and have a life unlike us, here are the highlights from last night’s Dem town halls: pic.twitter.com/UYu396AnM0 — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 24, 2019

The cents-on-dollars phrasing was savvy, Noah observed. “You have to admit, it is brilliant how she just frames it as two cents of every dollar above $50m. It just gets into your head. It’s really just a 2% tax, but everything sounds more reasonable when you put it into cents.

“That’s why when they ask you to sponsor an African kid, they say, ‘For just 80¢ a day, you can save this child.’ Because if they say, ‘You can help this child for $292 a year,’ you would say, ‘Wait a minute – that’s an Xbox.’”

In contrast, the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar tried to “be straight with you and tell you the truth” – a policy for universal college diplomas just isn’t feasible.

It’s not great news, Noah said, but at least she’s consistent with her reputation for toughness. “She’s like the anti-Oprah: ‘Everyone look under your seats, you ain’t getting shit.’”

Keeping it real might be a great quality in a president, Noah continued, but it doesn’t necessarily endear you to crowds. Noah pointed to a moment in the town hall when Klobuchar touted her ability to win every congressional district in Minnesota, even Tea Party stalwart Michele Bachmann’s, to silence from the audience. “That’s when you guys are supposed to cheer,” she said.

Noah winced. “That was rough. Asking someone to cheer is like asking someone to say ‘I love you.’ If they don’t do it on their own, that’s kinda the answer.”

CNN’s final town hall belonged to the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, “middle-aged Pinnocchio” Pete Buttigieg. The current media darling “didn’t come with policy and specifics”, Noah explained. “No, he came with the heart.”

In fact, host Anderson Cooper noted that while Mayor Pete’s campaign website contains plenty of information on his character, it’s notably short on policy specifics. Buttigieg promised to roll out more proposals, “but I also think it’s important that we not drown people in minutiae before we’ve vindicated the values that animate our policies”.

“I don’t know what he just said, but I like it,” Noah said. “That was really slick – he still didn’t tell us about his policies but he made us feel like policies.”

Buttgieg’s slick answers “reminds me of that kid in school who always got good grades without reading any of the books,” Noah said, then miming said student: “Uh, yeah, Catcher in the Rye, it’s such a profound exploration of the human condition. I mean, themes of love, hate, joy, pain – it’s so relatable, we can all understand, what more do I need to say?”

Buttigieg’s success so far indicates how “running for president as a man is so much more fun,” Noah said. “Because as a woman, you have to bring extra homework – Elizabeth Warren calculated two cents on every dollar over $50m; Kamala is breaking down the statistics on maternal mortality as it relates to race and class; but a dude can just come in and be like, yeah, I’m just gonna wing it.”