‘Israel’s Sugar Daddy’ - Bassem Youssef on Trump, Kimmel, Mamdani,

Mehdi is joined by comedian Bassem Youssef for their first-ever live taping of ‘We’re Not Kidding’ at ArabCon 2025 in Dearborn, Michigan. The duo get candid about the Trump administration’s recent attacks on free speech, the potential of a Zohran Mamdani victory in New York City, and how much the world has changed (and sadly not changed) since Israel began its genocide in Gaza almost two years ago. They also take some pretty challenging and probing questions from the audience during a live Q&A.

The two start off talking about Jimmy Kimmel, who had been suspended by Disney/ABC for his comments about Charlie Kirk’s killing and subsequent pressure from Trump’s FCC chair. While Mehdi acknowledges the incident’s very real, very scary implications for free speech in the US, he and Bassem highlight the hypocrisy of cable news pundits who decried Kimmel’s suspension yet said nothing about the silencing of pro-Palestine activists over the past two years.

At the time of recording, it was nearing the two-year anniversary of Oct. 7 and the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Bassem, ever the pessimist of the two, voices his lack of hope that an end to the conflict is coming any time soon. Mehdi, on the other hand, points out the massive change in public opinion on the conflict, and Israel in general. The two wrap up their conversation with a bit of hope — Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign in New York City.

Finally, the two take questions from the audience about the use of social media platforms complicit in genocide, whether either of them would travel to Israel for work, and how to build momentum for the BDS movement (‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions’). Mehdi also gets asked a couple of pointed questions about condemning Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 and the killing of Israeli civilians — you don’t want to miss his response.