Meet the Muslim Comedian who Roasted President Trump at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

By Gary Nguyen --
02 May 2017 --

The Daily Show‘s Hasan Minhaj hosted the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Saturday.

Hasan Minhaj, Senior Correspondent of The Daily Show, praised the United States' spirit of freedom when he hosted the dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association on April 29.

He said it is inconceivable to guess that given the state of the U.S. right now, a Muslim would be giving his spiel at a high-profile event. Minhaj is an American born to Indian-Muslim parents. Minhaj made history as the first South Asian American and also the first Muslim to host the yearly event.[/tweetit] The event took place at Washington Hilton Hotel.

Meet the Muslim Comedian who Roasted President Trump at White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner[/tweetthis]

Minhaj openly celebrated the First Amendment and its accompanying freedoms. He also took digs at the news media. The comedian urged reporters to exhibit more integrity so they can win back the respect they have lost from the U.S. public. He made his stance clear when he said nowadays trust is more vital than the truth. Elaborating his stance, he said President Donald J. Trump's supporters trust him. He also said he was aware the journalists are trying to do their best, before adding that a large section of the U.S. population does not trust them.

Minhaj ended his speech with the witticism that Americans cannot be blamed for the distrust of media because media persons cannot be described as perfect, unlike Anderson Cooper’s bone structure.

Hilarious! #hasanminhaj ROASTS Donald Trump At The 2017 White House Correspondents … https://t.co/IN6KVm7nXs via @YouTube
— Maurice Khardine (@Gefjune) April 30, 2017

Minhaj's inexperience at hosting high profile programs showed in the beginning as he started on a shaky note, saying a well-known American newspaper was filled more with coupon sections and less with the news. He also brought up the hypothetical question of why the media is so interested in President Trump's golf trips during the weekend.

It must be said Minhaj is not in the same high-profile league as his predecessors in the correspondents' event. According to him, he represents what he terms the “New Brown America.” The star of Comedy Central joins a brand new young performers' generation made of Riz Ahmed and Aziz Ansari who wish to reclaim their much-maligned Muslim heritage from the 9/11 stereotypes. They want to provide a better map of navigating American and Muslim cultures. People following Islam make up approximately one percent of the American population. It is anticipated that by 2050, this number will double. Indian-origin Muslims make up only three percent of Muslim Americans.