Tags: Comedy, Gun Violence
Hasan Minhaj of The Daily Show laid into Congress for their inaction on gun control at the Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner. Orlando, he said, “was one of the ugliest cocktails of the problems that we still see here in America. A cocktail of homophobia, xenophobia, lack of access to mental healthcare, and sheer lack of political will.”
Minhaj’s speech was a damning indictment on the lack of willpower for actual change on the part of Congress, of mainstream media, and of institutions that allow for “covert or overt discrimination.”
“Stuff like this is going to continue to happen unless we recognize that civil liberties are an all or nothing game.”
The speech wasn’t just a push for gun control, but a call-out for the lack of work done on everyone’s part to fight discrimination even if doesn’t impact one’s “bottom-line.” As a Muslim comedian, and one that has tackled Islamophobia in segments of The Daily Show, Minhaj reminds the Congress that it’s their inaction that caused gun violence, not “Radical Islam” as they and the media are so quick to blame.
The crux of the speech was focused on Congress. “Your job…is to write rules to make our societies better” pointing out that the NRA has given $3.7 million to Congress since 1998. He also mentioned that Congress has blocked legislature that would allow the CDC to even study gun-related violence, asking, “If 3.7 million dollars can buy political influence to take lives, if we raise 4 million, would you guys take that to save lives?”
Watch the full video below.