Aziz Ansari Talks Islamophobia, Challenges Trump In SNL Opening Monologue
Aziz Ansari, the star, writer, director and co-creator of the Netflix series "Master of None," poses at The Paley Center. Chris Pizzello / AP
Aziz Ansari was the guest host for Saturday Night Live, and with Trump's presidential inauguration and a day of protests around the country fresh on everyone's mind, he brought sharp and timely comments about racism and Islamophobia.
Ansari said that some Trump voters may have simply had different priorities, or that they cast their ballots with reservations. He compared Trump voters to Chris Brown listeners. "Hey man, here for the tunes, I don't know about that other stuff. ... I don't condone the extra-curriculars," he joked. "If you think about it, Trump is basically the Chris Brown of politics, and 'Make America Great Again' is his 'These Hoes Ain't Loyal.'"
But he then called out a "lower-case KKK movement" of people who felt the results of the election were an excuse to be openly racist."If you're one of these people, please go back to pretending. I'm so sorry we never thanked you for your service, we never realized how much effort you were putting into the pretending," he said. "But you have to go back to pretending."
Ansari then added that he believes that many people who are bigoted don't know any brown people in real life, and said press coverage of brown people should show Muslims doing normal things right after showing footage of terrorists on TV. He then challenged Donald Trump to write a speech condemning racism, recalling President George W. Bush's speech after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that proclaimed Islam as peace, and that the terrorists don't represent the religion.
He ended the speech on an optimistic note.
"If you look at our history, change doesn't come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people," he said. "If day one is any indication, you are part of the largest group of angry people I have ever seen."
Watch the video below.
