Hasan Minhaj Roasts ‘Dilbert’ Cartoonist: Why We Need a STFU Tax

Hasan Minhaj opened his first episode as guest host on The Daily Show Monday with a brutal roast of Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, who was dropped from hundreds of newspapers over his racist rant.

“This is the American dream, baby!” declared Minhaj, a former correspondent on the show. “I worked here for five years just so I could substitute teach for a week.”

The host of Netflix’s Patriot Act started off by pointing out the obvious: Despite the war in Ukraine, the Ohio train derailment, or the devastation left by the earthquake in Turkey, “the biggest story in the newspaper is on the comics page.”

Minhaj then dropped a clip of Adam’s racist tirade. “Oh my god!” exclaimed Minhaj after playing the video. “He just kept going! He was like, ‘Black people are a hate group, white people should stay away from Black people, I stay away from Black people.’ And Kanye heard this and was like, ‘Whoa, my brother, pace yourself.’”

The comedian, citing his recent experience rubbing “shoulders with the Illuminati,” said that his encounters have taught him that there is a “certain type of rich person” who “when they don’t have problems of their own, they have to make up problems just to make their lives interesting.”

“I can guarantee you, J.K. Rowling had zero opinions about trans people when she was on welfare,” Minhaj joked, before adding, “this is why I think we need a wealth tax.”

“Rich people, this is for your own good,” he assured. “The wealth tax is actually a shut the fuck up tax.”

Minhaj also took a shot at dubious lab leak claims, and bantered with Ronny Chieng, who he called his “friend, colleague, and mortal enemy.” He is the sixth comic to take on the role as The Daily Show guest host—following Leslie Jones, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler, Wanda Sykes, and D.L. Hughley—after Trevor Noah bid farewell to his show of seven years.