Big news today. Kim Kardashian announced
that she passed a big law exam in California.
Yeah, on her fourth try.
She passed the baby bar exam,
which I didn't know that that was a, like, a law exam.
I always thought, like, that the baby bar was, like, a place
where you took your baby to hang out to meet other babies.
Like, when babies are having a tough day,
then they just be in the baby bar together.
"Give me another pint of milk. Aah. Life is hard."
I thought that it was that thing. Anyway, Kim...
This is really cool because a lot of people didn't think
Kim could pass any of these exams,
and now she's on her way to becoming,
like, a full-on lawyer, which is dope.
And now, what I didn't like is people online were like,
"I would never hire Kim Kardashian as my..."
"Yo, I would definitely hire Kim Kardashian."
Are you kidding me? If she could convince the world
that being a Kardashian was a job,
she can convince 12 people that I didn't kidnap someone's cat.
That's what I need in my corner.
And she was saying, like, she was like,
"My dad would be proud right now.
He's in heaven. He's probably like, proud of me."
And blah, blah. And I was like, "Yeah."
I can imagine Kim Kardashian's dad,
'cause he was also a lawyer.
He's probably looking down, and he's proud.
And he's also looking down going, "Wow.
How the hell is O.J. still free? Damn."
ANNOUNCER: Coming to you from the heart of Times Square
in New York City, the only city in America, it's
The Daily Show.
Tonight-- and just like what?,
cancelling 2021
and Huma Abedin.
This is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Hey, what's going on, everybody? welcome to The Daily Show.
I'm Trevor Noah, and joining me
for today's headlines is Michael Kosta.
-How you doing, Michael? -The year's almost over, Trevor.
-Yeah, right? -Two more weeks, and I realized
I got to get on my New Year's resolution now,
or else I'm never gonna have actually done anything.
So for the next two weeks, I'm going vegan.
And, uh, for the next 12 days, I'm gonna do no cheese pizza,
an Impossible Burger and then, New Year's Eve,
I'm gonna do spaghetti with tofu butter.
Is that what they do? I don't know.
But, so, never too late. That's my... that's my mission.
-I think it might be. -You... Okay. You know what?
But you know what? Good for you.
Ne... I'm still going for it, yup.
You know, that's what I love about you, Michael.
-Thank you, Trevor. -Always pushing. Good luck with that.
All right, let's just straight into today's headlines.
♪ ♪
We kick things off with the big media news.
Every year since 1927, Time Magazine has awarded
"Person of the Year"
to the world's most influential newsmaker.
It is by far the most incredible honor
that most people find out about in a dentist's office.
And this year, the lucky winner is a guy
who already pretty much won life.
We have breaking news. Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk,
is now Time Magazine's Person of the Year.
Time Magazine said he is different from any other CEO,
constantly interacting with Twitter users,
while running one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Elon Musk can also influence the markets with just one tweet.
Time Magazine also recognized Musk's other ventures,
like SpaceX.
Musk is the richest man in the world thanks to Tesla,
which has increased in value eight fold
since the beginning of the pandemic.
Yay! Congratulations, Elon Musk!
Oh, man, I'm so happy for him.
Like, the guy could really use an ego boost, you know?
And honestly, you can't argue with this.
I mean, richest man in the world, who also controls space,
crypto and electric cars?
Ah. I mean, who would even be second place?
Like, maybe Pete Davidson? Maybe?
My only question is this, though.
Why is it that Person of the Year always goes
to the weirdest persons? Like, have you noticed that?
Like, I sometimes wonder, if aliens came down,
I don't know if I want these guys representing our race.
You know, the aliens would be like,
"Your species needs to be exterminated,
"except for that guy.
He seems normal, totally normal."
I think it's just because his name is "Elon"
that we think he's all futuristic, you know?
A lot of futuristic things-- E-lon, I-pad, X-box,
-e-cigarette, A-Rod, you know? -(Noah laughing)
If his name was "Leon," would you buy a car
from Leon, Trevor, you know?
-Leon Musk? It wouldn't be the same. -No. Leon Musk
does not carry the same worth.
"Stop talking about the blockchain, Leon."
-You know what I mean? -I hear you.
So, I... Leon feels like a, kind of a deadbeat name,
whereas "Elon" is a disrupter, so I'm not on board.
So you don't think he deserves it at all?
I think we're all being duped by some good naming.
-I feel you there, -You know?
-"Tesla." That's a good name, as well. Yeah. -Right.
If it was called "Elsa," you see?
-We'd just let it go? -We'd let it go.
-I'll be here all week, folks. -(laughs)
All right, let's move on to our next story,
which is from California, America's side boob.
California is one of the most anti-gun states in the country,
which is a frustrating position to be in these days,
especially when conservative courts
are striking down any effort at gun control.
But now the governor of California has come up
with a new plan to limit guns, and where he got the idea from
is pretty hilarious.
NEWSWOMAN: California governor Gavin Newsom says he wants
to use the new restrictive abortion law in Texas
as a model to ban assault weapons.
Newsom tweeted he wants legislation
that allows Californians to sue anyone who makes,
distributes or sells the guns as well as ghost gun kits.
The governor cites Supreme Court rulings
that have allowed the Texas law to remain in effect
while the high court reviews it.
That's right, Gavin Newsom now wants to pull a Texas,
except he's going to do it on assault weapons and ghost guns.
Which, if you ask me, is a pretty risky move.
I mean, you're going to want those ghost guns
when that giant marshmallow man shows up.
I don't think that's what a ghost gun is, Trevor.
Ah, I think it is, Kosta. I read.
But yeah, the idea is that, because the Supreme Court
is allowing this for banning abortion,
they're gonna have to allow it for banning guns, too,
But here's the thing, here's the thing.
The problem with this idea is that the Supreme Court
can make up whatever rules they like.
Like, if they want to strike down these gun laws,
they'll find a way. You know?
The Supreme Court is like that annoying kid
that your mom made you have playdates with.
Tag! I gotcha!
Nuh-uh. I have a vest that makes me invincible.
Man, I wish the courts allowed your mom to have an abortion.
You know, I'll tell you what, guys,
America has gotten so divided right now,
that at this point I think maybe... maybe some states
should just, like, secede and try and do their own thing.
Like, you know, have they tried that before?
Like, what's the worst that could happen, you know?
Trevor, um, I usually try to have something funny to say,
but this story is about guns, abortion
and an obscure Supreme Court ruling,
so you're on your own for this one. So...
Wow. I was hoping that I was gonna turn it to you,
-and you were gonna, like... -I know.
-I mean... -and then you just left me...
If anything, I wish the state of New York
allowed me the right to sue you for putting me on the spot
to come up with something funny for that story.
But we're not there yet.
-Well, I mean, it's your job. Like, y... -Yeah.
Well, before we started this, you said you've got my back,
and now you're saying...
I'm saying it's a tough story, you know, but...
-but yeah, I mean... -that's what we do here,
-we deal with tough stories, Kosta. -I know.
Well, you do it better than me,
which is why I'm sitting this one out.
But at this point it seems like I'm all in,
'cause I'm still talking somehow.
(laughing)
I was try... I was trying to step out of it,
but now I'm in. So...
-Well, we're in this together. -We're in it together.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
All right, let's move on from Kosta's story
that he brought into the show and talk about some big news
from the world of sports involving Formula 1 racing,
the absolute coolest way to contribute to climate change.
Yesterday was the final race of the season,
but how it ended is giving a lot of people road rage.
Back now with a big story in Formula 1 racing.
A new champion unseated seven-time reigning champ
Lewis Hamilton after one of the most controversial race finishes
in the history of the sport.
This was a walk-off home run, a buzzer beater
and a Hail Mary all wrapped into one.
It was the final lap of the final race
of a frantic Formula 1 season,
It brought chaos, controversy and a new champion.
On Sunday it looked like Hamilton had the victory
and the title in hand, leading almost the whole way,
with Verstappen a distant second until things got crazy.
Near the end of the race, the crash forced the safety car
onto the track to limit the drivers' speeds.
Once the race restarted on lap 58 of 58,
verstappen caught, overtook and sped by Hamilton
to win the championship in a shocking, unprecedented finish.
Okay, okay, I know right now there are a lot of people
who are saying, "I literally do not understand anything here."
So let me try and explain what happened to you
and why everyone in Britain is in a bad mood today.
I mean aside from the 600 straight days of rain.
Basically what happened, basically what happened is,
you've got Lewis Hamilton, okay?
He is, like, the LeBron James of Formula 1.
Like, if LeBron wasn't just the best player,
but also the only Black player ever in the NBA.
Okay? You with me?
So now Hamilton was trying to win his 8th championship,
and for the entire race he was in the lead.
But then there was a big crash at the back of the race.
And whenever that happens in Formula 1,
a safety car has to come out to make sure
that while they're cleaning up all the wreckage on the track,
the other cars don't run over the people
who are doing the cleaning-- 'cause that's just rude.
Plus, if you hit the people who are cleaning up,
then you got to bring more people
to clean up the people who were cleaning them up,
and then it becomes, like, a whole thing.
So, the safety car,
safety car comes out and drives slow,
and all the race cars behind it,
they have to stay behind the safety car, you know?
So it's-it's like it's, like, a senior citizen
doing 20 on a one-way road, you know?
Which-which kind of sucks if you're leading.
Because Hamilton was in the lead, right?
Because he has to slow down.
Meanwhile, everyone at the back can catch up to you.
Yeah, and I don't think there are any other sports
where this happens.
Like, you're never... You never see an NFL game
where for a few minutes,
the ref only lets the losing team score.
(imitates blowing whistle) "Oh, my God!
"Someone's hurt real bad.
"All right, would you guys like to score a couple of touchdowns
"while we drag him off the field? Yeah?
"Yeah, not you. Not you. Someone's hurt.
"Okay, you guys want to score quick?
All right, go on. Go on. Go on, guys. Yeah!"
And look, yes, it's kind of a crazy way to do things.
All right? It is kind of crazy.
But, I mean, these people are also driving 200 miles an hour
around a racetrack, so crazy is relative.
And some people argue that it makes the sport more exciting.
Every time there's a crash, the whole field
comes back together, and then it's a race.
You know, so, now, because of the safety car,
everyone caught up to Hamilton, all right?
And then, with one final lap to go, the race director...
He's, like, the guy who chooses everything.
He's, like, bigger than the ref.
He had two options. One: follow the rules
and let the race end under the safety car,
in which case Hamilton would have won
but with all the other cars driving like they're going
through a school zone. Very boring.
Or two: second option was spice things up.
You know? Change the rules a little bit
and restart the race but for one final lap.
Which is what he did. Yeah.
And that last lap, which maybe shouldn't have happened,
gave Max Verstappen, the guy who was in second place,
it gave him a chance to go change his tires
and then pull ahead and win.
So, that's why Lewis Hamilton's fans
are pissed at what happened.
And his team protested the decision,
but that protest goes
to the same people who made the decision,
so, I mean, that was never gonna work.
It's like appealing your mom grounding you
to your mom.
"I've checked with myself, and I decided
that my decision was correct."
And, by the way, by the way, just-just as an aside,
I love how every sport,
every sport has all of these layers
of replay officials and specialists and appeals
to analyze every little play,
but then when we're trying to solve real things
like murders, we just ask 12 random people on the street,
Just like, "Hey, you think this guy did it?
"Yeah, yeah, he does dress kind of weird, doesn't he?
"Yeah, take him away. Take him away.
Thank you, members of the jury."
Now, I know right now, a lot of Americans are thinking,
"What, Trevor? Some EuroNASCAR race
"changed the rules so that somebody else could win?
Who cares? Who cares about any of this?"
Okay.
But you'll remember this moment
when the next U.S. presidential election comes.
Yeah. Then you'll see why the story's a big deal.
Well, our elections can never go to the wrong person,
so we're good.
You know? By the way, this story?
Uh, dramatic, exciting, competitive.
Someone should write a musical about it.
And you would name it after...
Who was the guy that was in first place? Um...
-Hamilton. -Hamilton.
No one's ever thought of that. That would crush.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
I think a Hamilton musical
-would do well. -That's what I'm saying.
Good, so now we're back to being partners again.
I also wonder, with gas prices being so high,
how bad it would suck
to be a Formula 1 race driver right now.
You know? You got one lap to go.
You think you're just saying, "Just put ten dollars in
"for this last lap.
-That's all I got." -Yeah, but... (laughs)
They don't... they don't pay for their own gas.
They don't... They're not at the thing going,
"What's my zip code? Shit, I'm getting passed"?
No. No, they-they don't...
That would make it a very...
I wanted to say "terrible sport,"
but I actually think that might be
the greatest sport ever invented.
That'd be interesting. I also find it interesting
that they're racing on oil,
a finite resource, you know?
That's why I support steam engine racing.
'Cause they use water?
Well, coal.
But I guess that's a finite resource, too.
Man, it sounded better when I was just thinking of it.
There are electric races now.
And if we could come up with somebody
to create an electric car,
I would consider that person Person of the Year.
All right, and, finally,
the hot new TV show right now
is HBO's reboot of Sex and the City.
More sex,
more city.
Over the weekend,
the debut episode not only sent shock waves
through people's living rooms--
it also shook up the stock market.
NEWSMAN: A huge shock to fans of Sex and the City.
Mr. Big, the husband
of Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie,
dies of a heart attack in the very first episode
of the series reboot.
He's doing a vigorous workout on a Peloton bike.
Then Mr. Big, played by actor Chris Noth,
heads to the shower,
where he suffers a fatal heart attack.
The scene was such a shock,
the company's stock took a nosedive Thursday,
dropping 11%.
NEWSMAN 2: A Peloton spokesperson confirmed
that it gave the show permission to use Peloton equipment
in that episode but not that a character would die using it.
NEWSWOMAN: Within 48 hours though,
Peloton came together to create a commercial showing
-Mr. Big alive and well. -(newsman 3 chuckles)
NEWSWOMAN: The clip has now gone viral.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Peloton had also released a statement
from a cardiologist saying Mr. Big's extravagant lifestyle
and perhaps his family history played a role in his death.
-America! -(chuckling)
America!
Yo,
how does Peloton's real-life stock tank
because of something that happened to a character
in a TV-- How dumb are some people?
Yo, TV isn't real!
You think those dragons in Game of Thrones are real?
They're CGI.
The Mandalorian-- it's CGI.
The cast of This Is Us-- it's all CGI!
No real people can cry that much. Grow up, people!
Here's some investing advice.
You should not make knee-jerk financial decisions
based on TV shows.
You should do your research,
you should look into the market
and you see what Elon Musk tweets
and then you go with that.
I mean, I do feel a little bad for Peloton though,
'cause when they gave HBO permission
to put their product in the show,
they didn't know someone was gonna die because of it.
You know? They probably thought the characters
would just hang clothes on it, like everyone else does.
Yeah, I...
I don't like ad placements in TV shows.
I find 'em dishonest.
I find 'em greedy.
-I find 'em outrageous. -I agree. Yeah.
You know? Almost as outrageous
as the power of four Duracell batteries,
the choice of The Daily Show's Michael Kosta.
Trevor, you can't stop me from doing endorsements, dude.
'Kay? Also,
you can't stop the Coppertop.
The Daily Show's Michael Kosta's
premier choice of battery.
Do they pay you for that?
Uh, it's-- I'm doing it as a proof of concept.
I'm gonna send it to their ad team.
So you're giving them free ads
and they might not even pay you for them?
I'm-I'm taking a calculated risk.
-Yeah. -(sighs)
Um, I mean, I don't even know what to do anymore, Kosta.
-All right, well... -(rustling)
They got different sizes. This is a "D,"
and then there's-- I think this is a "A."
But...
it's a great battery,
I use them for all my fax machines and remote controls.
-All right. Just give me the small one. -Yeah.
-I need two for my remote when you... -Okay. You got it.
All right. Uh, well, Peloton has tried to ride this thing out.
And, to be honest to you, I give props to them as a company,
you know, for trying to have a sense of humor
and try to limit the damage by joking about it all.
But I don't think that they're out of the woods yet.
Because based on the preview
for next week's episode of Sex and the City reboot,
man, Peloton has got some more bad PR ahead of it.
♪ ♪
(screams)
(yells)
(gasping)
-Taxi! (screams) -(horn honks)
♪ ♪
All right, when we come back,
Roy Wood Jr. will look back at who got canceled in 2021.
You don't want to miss it.
'Cause it might be you. (gasps)
Welcome back to The Daily show.
2021 is almost over.
And we can all agree that compared to last year,
it has been a perfect year.
So for the rest of the month,
we'll be remembering all of 2021's best moments
in our year-end segment, "A Look Back at 2021,
the Least Bad Year of the Last Two Years."
Tonight, a special look back with Roy Wood, Jr.
at The Department of Cancellations.
♪ ♪
Good evening and salutations.
It is time to once again announce
The U.S. Department of Cancellations list
of approved cancellations for the year 2021.
Now, as a reminder, these are actual cancellations,
not one of them fake cancellations
that ends up just making everybody richer.
Nobody's getting a Netflix special out of this.
Not even a podcast sponsored by MyPillow.
This is an official cancellation,
which means you got to list it on your taxes and everything.
Everything in your life gets cancelled.
Career-- cancelled.
Twitter account-- cancelled.
Dentist appointment-- cancelled.
You think you got a reservation at Outback Steakhouse?
Not anymore. Cancelled!
First up-- Mike Richards.
We all know Mike Richards, the producer of Jeopardy!,
not to be confused with Kramer, Michael Richards,
who we cancelled back in 2006, along with MapQuest.
You just weren't getting the job done, MapQuest.
So take two lefts and a slight right
and get your ass up out of here.
Mike Richards was selected to take over as host of Jeopardy!
by the show's producer...
Mike Richards.
Guess they kind of looked alike,
and all the data that they, you know, analyzed
just showed them that, you know, you already work here,
so it would be less paperwork. Can't blame them.
But soon after, Twitter did its thing,
and everyone discovered many disparaging comments
Richards made about women and Jews.
I mean the Jews. The Jewish people.
Rosh Hashanah. What's the right...
-Can we cut? -(beep)
...for his terrible comments and the hubris
to think his smarmy ass could succeed a legend,
the U.S. Department officially cancels Mike Richards...
in an act of...
what is "justice," Alex?
Love you, Trebek, baby.
Next up...
Ah. Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
Emphasis on the "former."
Andrew Cuomo rose to national prominence
at the start of the coronavirus pandemic,
because in its time of need,
America wanted a guy who sounded like Al Pacino
to throw up a couple of power point slides
and tell us that toilet paper was on the way.
Unfortunately for Cuomo, all the Charmin in the world
wasn't gonna help him clean up the shit storm
he was about to face.
Cuomo was actually canceled twice this year.
First for getting a bunch of nursing home residents killed
and then fudging the numbers to cover it up.
And then he was also cancelled for sexual harassment
against women who worked for him.
You can't do both of those in one year.
If you're gonna be the most prolific killer of old people,
you got to at least be courteous to women.
The Department of Cancellations approves this cancellation,
and it sentences Andrew Cuomo
to ten million years in a prison cell
built out of the unsold copies of his book.
We gonna leave some room in there for your brother, too.
Next up...
Ah, the Cleveland Indians.
Now, I don't need to explain why this was canceled.
In fact, if you don't know why this was canceled,
please turn yourself in for self-cancellation.
It'll be easier on all of us.
Now, I'll be the first to admit,
this one took us over a hundred years
to process the paperwork on, but we finally got it done.
There's a big backlog. Cleveland Indians,
Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves.
We got the Native American mascot division
of this department working around the clock.
They don't even get Thanksgiving off.
That's messed-up.
Luckily,
I don't think anyone in Cleveland's
gonna be missing that name,
because the new name is amazing.
The Cleveland Guardians.
Sounds great.
Did we check to make sure that the Guardian ain't the name
of, like, some white supremacy group or something, man?
Okay. (mutters)
Sound a little white supremacy.
(sighs) And, finally,
former President Donald J. Trump,
whose vicious lies about the 2020 election
inspired his supporters to storm the Capitol
and return him to power illegally.
For shaking the foundation of our precious democracy
to its very core,
the U.S. Department of Cancellation
officially cancels him for all time.
Then again, his supporters stormed our building,
trashed our offices, busted up our break room fridge
and now I have to bring my lunch to work in a cooler.
So, to avoid that happening again,
the Department of Cancellation
officially endorses Donald J. Trump for president in 2024.
Go get 'em, future boss.
I'm sorry. I'm not about to get beat with no flagpole
by them people. They-- You saw the way they was crawl--
climbing, like Redneck Spider-Man.
That's one cancellation I don't--
I don't want any part of.
Thank you so much for that, Roy.
All right, when we come back,
Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, Huma Abedin,
will be joining me right here on the show.
So don't go away.
Welcome back to The Daily Show.
My guest tonight is Huma Abedin.
She's an advisor and chief of staff
to Hillary Rodham Clinton,
and she's here to talk about her best-selling memoir,
Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds.
Huma, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me, Trevor.
You have lived a life that is,
I mean, just in proximity to action all the time.
I mean, just listening to this, you know,
when I was going through it again, it's...
You were by somebody's side who was running for president twice,
um, you know, you were at somebody's side
while she was serving as secretary of state,
as senator of New York, and you had to wake that same person up
from bed when she was first lady.
The person I'm talking about, of course, is Hillary Clinton.
Let's talk about that first.
How do you wake up a sleeping first lady?
So first of all, I'm thrilled to be with you today.
And I, um...
Yes, when I walked into the White House,
I was a 21-year-old intern.
I didn't exactly know what I was doing,
and there was very much,
at least in the Clinton administration,
this sink-or-swim attitude.
They kind of threw you into it.
-And so, this was the midst of her senate campaign. -Right.
-Right. -She was first lady running for the Senate.
And one morning, the White House operator says,
"Well, she's not responding."
Now, as somebody who had followed all the rules,
one of the first rules you learn in the White House is,
fail to plan, plan to fail, and I had a plan.
The plan was that she was going to wake up.
So I didn't know how to wake her up.
So I decide to march into the hallway.
I tiptoe in the back, I knock on the door,
and I say, "Mrs. Clinton." No response.
So finally, I open the door, tiptoe in,
and shake her really hard.
And not only did I wake her up.
I woke up the leader of the free world
and the ghost of Lincoln.
The entire house was alerted.
And the funniest thing about the story is that she gets up,
she gets in the chair to get her makeup done,
and she turns to me and she says,
"Huma, next time, just knock louder."
Yeah, that was a big jump from "Knock softly."
-"Shake your ass." That's, like, a big jump. -Exactly.
I learned a lesson that day.
-Okay, okay. -And now I always knock louder.
I mean, I haven't had to do it for a while,
-but that's a lesson I pass on. -I like that. Yeah.
Just, like, it's incremental steps.
-The journey of Huma Abedin. -We had a lot of fun.
-That's for sure. -It does sound like that.
I mean, you've had a really interesting relationship
-with Hillary Clinton, who is, you know... -Mm-hmm.
in America, I mean, a person who will go down in history...
Like, people will love her, people will hate her,
-That's right. -people will talk about her.
You've seen sides of her that nobody else will.
And what I really enjoyed in your book is,
-you talk about seeing those sides of Hillary, -Mm-hmm.
and you talk about how difficult it was
for Hillary to navigate the journey
of being "perfect" and, like, talking perfectly
and looking perfect.
It seems like there was no way to win.
When you were doing that, when you were trying to create
the perfect image of a Hillary Clinton,
like, where was this external pressure coming from?
You know, Trevor, so much of it is: hindsight is 20/20.
When we were in it, in the moment,
there was no perfect way to be, and one of our challenges--
I actually write, in 2008, we, even on the inside,
we didn't know how to deal with some of the sexist,
misogynistic comments, so we just laughed along with it.
We just assumed this was the price you pay
-for being in the game. -Hmm.
So if you said she should wear brown, we wear brown.
If you said she should talk louder,
okay, let's try to talk louder.
And it was constantly shape-shifting, if you will,
responding to people's comments, but nothing was ever right.
And I think 2016 was next-level
in that here we were, and everybody had a different, uh,
everyone had a different response.
I actually share a story in the book
-where the Hollywood director calls me and says, -Right.
"You know, I'm gonna give her some media training,"
and I said, "Well, give me an idea
of who she should be like," and they said,
"Well, her husband." And I said, "Well, excellent.
Anybody else?" "President Obama."
-Both phenomenal communicators. You know, -Right.
legendary communicators, both men.
And so we could never quite get it right,
and we kept trying, and I think that it's in part
because we have a hard time seeing women in leadership.
-Right. -Forget commander in chief, Trevor.
Just seeing women in leadership positions.
And I agree with you,
not everyone's gonna necessarily agree
-with everything Hillary Clinton believes, -Right, right, yeah.
but she is a historic figure for this country and the world,
and she tried to pave the way forward,
and she's got some cracks in that ceiling,
and somebody's gonna step in those shoes.
And, in fact, we have a vice president
-who stepped in those shoes. -Right, right.
Who's also being criticized for how she laughs
or how she doesn't laugh.
You know, there seems to be a fine line
that can, like, no one can really walk perfectly.
-Right. -Um, you have faced a lot of that criticism.
You have faced, you know... I think a lot of extra scrutiny,
because you're not just a woman, but you're also a Muslim woman.
You're a Muslim woman who's been working in American government
for so long.
Reading through the book, there were things
I didn't know about you. I was like, "Wow."
I didn't know that you had your moments
of, you know, "being the terrorist"
-that people were talking about. -Mm-hmm.
Actual, you know, sitting members of Congress
saying, like, "Oh, there she is.
The member of this organization. The member..."
Do you think it got better? Or-or do you think it just,
you know, went underground for a little bit?
'Cause you're seeing this, you know, with Lauren Boebert,
for instance, now coming and saying "Ilhan Omar, the..."
-you know, the backpack in the... -Absolutely.
In the... in the elevator.
Do you think it got better
as a Muslim person working in government,
or do you think it just shifted, maybe?
I actually think that what happened to me in 2012,
as you were referring,
where five Republican members of Congress
suggested I was essentially a spy, not a patriot...
-Yeah. -I was that American, Trevor,
that as I traveled the world as a little girl--
and we went everywhere from South Africa
to London to Paris to Asia--
every time we landed, I would turn to my mother
and say, "Is it America yet?"
Why? Because to me, America wasn't just a place
that you could go to a movie theater--
things I didn't have back in Saudi Arabia--
or you could wear what you wanted.
-It was a feeling. -Hmm.
It was a sense of choice and optimism
and appreciation for, you know, those principles and values.
So I've always walked with a great pride as an American.
I do think when they accused me of being...
essentially a spy,
it was unleashing...
I think it was an appetizer, Trevor,
to what we were to face in 2016
when certainly Muslims and many brown people
became the other.
And I'm not just saying my kind of brown.
-Right, right. -Generally, if you were a person of color,
you were the other, and they succeeded in doing it.
I think it unleashed... I think Donald Trump
unleashed permission
to have this kind of dialogue and conversation.
It's one of the many reasons I wrote this book,
is to explain to the country
what it is to be an American Muslim.
I-It's not just heart-wrenching,
but it's also really vulnerable how you share your story.
You know, your name really just rose to prominence
in the country with the Anthony Weiner story,
your ex-husband.
And I remember at the time...
I mean, I wasn't familiar with American politics,
but this story was blowing up.
A lot of the women who I work with,
they were just like, "Oh, man, this is so shitty.
"Like, as women, we-we have to deal
"with the shit that our men do.
We have to bear their shame, as well."
And you-you really lay it out elegantly and vulnerably
in the book, but what was really surprising to me
is at the end of the book,
you acknowledge and thank your ex-husband.
And I'd love to know why you did that,
and-and if that was a true feeling that you had
or if you thought, "No, this is the high road
that I need to take."
Um, you know, I do acknowledge Anthony at the end of the book.
And the reason I do that is two things.
The first is he gave me
the single most important thing in my life--
that's my little boy.
Um, and he gave me that sense of feeling
I know what it is to be loved.
-Hmm. -And if you read the book,
to feel like the most special person in the room.
I didn't have a lot of experience with men
before I-I met Anthony.
And I wanted to be seen, not as--
even though I have a whole chapter in the book
called "Elephant in the Room"
and another one called "Shame, Shame, Go Away"--
even though I did live with a lot of shame
and felt judged for much of my marriage,
I tried to make every decision I thought was right for me
and for my little boy.
-Mm. -And I've actually been surprised by the number
of people who've read the book and read to the end,
seeing how I made these decisions
as it related to my marriage, saying,
"Okay, I understand. Now I get it."
And I think people who have in their life loved ones
who deal with addiction or mental health challenges,
they understand.
For people who don't, it's harder.
And so I'm really glad-- I'm-I'm very humbled
to hear people understand it once they read the story
and see that there is another side.
There is hope and possibility and optimism.
Well, to be honest with you, I think everybody does understand.
I just think, as human beings,
it is easier for us to judge a situation
that is happening outside of us because,
when we're not in love or when we don't love somebody
or we're not experiencing a negative thing with a loved one,
the-the answer is obvious, you know?
So you go, "You should do this. You shouldn't do that.
That's what I--" It's like when we're watching a TV show.
You know what all the characters should do.
But you're-you're the character in your own TV show,
-and then you never know what to do... -That's exactly right.
-...from episode to episode, so... -Oh, Trevor, that is
-so beautifully said. I could not agree more. -Yeah. I...
It-it-- You're-you're right. When you're judging
somebody else, if you're in that position,
-would you actually do the same thing? -Oh, yeah, it's easy.
It's-it's so easy, 'cause you're watching it.
-You know? That's-that's what it is. -Yeah.
Huma, thank you so much for joining me.
Trevor, thank you for having me.
All right, people, Huma's book, Both/And,
is available wherever books are sold.
All right, we're gonna take a quick break,
but we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight, but, before we go,
this weekend, a series of tornadoes
ravaged six states
and dozens of towns across the Central United States.
The Global Empowerment Mission are on the ground in Kentucky,
and they need your help.
So if you can, please donate to their Kentucky fund
at the link below.
Your support will directly impact
all of the affected communities.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
♪ ♪
("All I Want for Christmas Is You" playing)
Bridget, let's end this emergency.
(off-key): ♪ I don't want a lot for Christmas ♪
♪ Just body autonomy ♪
♪ I don't care about the variants ♪
♪ Because of natural immunity ♪
♪ I won't wear a useless mask ♪
♪ I don't need to stay at home ♪
♪ And my kids should go to school ♪
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♪ The Constitution will show us how ♪
♪ Make my dreams come true... ♪
♪ ♪