Comedians aren’t always so funny.
On Wednesday, comedian and Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj spoke at the 72nd Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner attended by both politicians and the media. After using jokes to call all conservatives, the GOP and Fox News employees blood-loving racists, Minhaj—in all seriousness—accused Congress of being complicit in the deaths of “thousands of Americans” for the sake of NRA bribes. And that’s just some of what he said.
Minhaj described the recent Orlando shooting as “one of the ugliest cocktails of the problems we still see here in America.” In his eyes, “A cocktail of homophobia, xenophobia, lack of access to mental health care, and shear lack of political will.” (Minhaj never once suggested a connection between the shooting and radical Islam.)
He continued to stress that religious, racial and sexual discrimination still exists in our “workplaces,” “homes” and “religious institutions.”
“This,” Minhaj went on to say about mass shootings, “is going to continue to happen unless we realize that civil liberties are a all or nothing game.”
Minhaj clarified that he’s not only talking to more than just the loud mouths.
“Everyday in our workplaces, in our homes, in our religious institutions there is covert or overt discrimination or phobia against people of different religious, racial or sexual walks of life,” he said. “And we just sit there and let it happen because it doesn’t affect our bottom line. ‘Oh I didn’t say it Hasan. I don’t think it’s that way. They said it. It’s not that simple Hasan.’” Minhaj never explained what he thought the government should do about such covert discrimination.
After making a brief and vague personal “apology” to the LGBT community for “not doing more,” Minhaj yelled at Congress for praying for the victims in Orlando.
“I’m sorry I didn’t do more. And the same goes for Congress,” he began. “You know we look to you guys as our leaders. You make almost two-hundred thousand a year to write rules and to make our society better—not tweet, not tell us about your ‘thoughts and prayers.’”
Instead of prayers, he demanded policies of “gun control, and universal background checks, and banning assault rifles.”
Minhaj’s grandstanding peaked when he accused Congress of condoning mass murder for the sake of NRA bribes.
“And ultimately it comes down to money and influence. And right now, since 1998 the NRA has given 3.7 million dollars to Congress,” he said. “There are 294 members of Congress who have accepted contributions from the NRA, and that doesn’t even include the millions of dollars from outside lobbying.”
Minhaj then asked members of Congress present in the audience whether, if he raised 4 million dollars, he could bribe them back to sanity.
“I don’t know if this is like a kick-starter thing,” he said, referring to a crowd-funding site. “If 3.7 million dollars can buy political influence to take lives, if we raised 4 million dollars, would you guys take that to save lives?”
“And is this what you want your legacy to be?” Minhaj added, “That you were a could-have-done-something Congress, but you didn’t because of outside lobbying, that you were complicit in the deaths of thousands of Americans.”
He offered one last jeer at religion to conclude his rant.
“I know that being a member of Congress is hard,” he prodded. “You’ve got to placate your base; you’ve got to look out for re-election; you’ve got to answer to lobbyists. But please persevere because our ‘thoughts and prayers’ are with you.”
