With the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) currently under way, the right-wing messages of “good guy with a gun” and “arming schools” have tried to dominate the news cycle since the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Thanks to the unprecedented response from the Parkland survivors, however, the national discussion about gun violence and gun control hasn’t already disappeared into the ether. These teenagers and their adult allies have staged walkouts and marches, gone toe-to-toe with politicians and pundits, and stood up to President Trump.
Some of them have even been accused of being crisis actors and, as a result, received death threats. Yet as The Daily Show host Trevor Noah notes in an unaired clip from Thursday’s episode, these kids have persisted and are still persisting. The South African comedian went on to say that he admired the Parkland survivors because they were “using their privilege” to enact change. It sounds weird, but as Noah explains the context of his comments, it starts to make more sense:
“A lot of these kids come from wealthy backgrounds. The school in Parkland is in an affluent neighborhood. These kids have grown up with most of the things they need, and in a way, it’s interesting to see how they approach life. They go, ‘No, I don’t understand why I can’t get the thing that makes sense.’ This is people using their privilege, if that makes sense. Because these kids are like, ‘No, I don’t accept this world.’ And the parents and the politicians are like, ‘Well that’s not how it works.’ And they’re like, ‘Well you need to change it. I want to see the manager.'”
“That’s what they’re doing!” Noah continued as the crowd cheered and laughed. “There are many kids in America who unfortunately have suffered similar fates in different ways, but you have seldom seen kids that have access to resources like these kids… it’s amazing to see what happens when you combine resources with a point of view.” Serious, poignant points to the contrary, the late night comedian wasn’t about to let the bit end without a joke. “They’re waiting for Trump to come out in his little McDonald’s hat. ‘Can I help you? What’s going on?'” (Trump would probably make a decent McDonald’s manager.)
(Via The Daily Show)