Trevor Noah thinks the issue with former president Barack Obama’s $400,000 offer for a Wall Street speech isn’t Obama, but the country’s rich financial district.
Obama is set to give a speech to Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald in September, which upset some, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said she was “troubled” by Obama’s lucrative offer, according to CBS News.
“Obama’s getting $400,000 to be a keynote speaker,” Noah says on Thursday’s “The Daily Show” after quoting “Atlanta” character Paper Boi’s fictional hit song. “He’s probably going to give a very important policy speech entitled, ‘The Four Boats I’m Going to Buy.’ Now look, I know that people may say that it weakens public trust when politicians cash in immediately after leaving office, but at least Obama waited until he left office, unlike [President Donald Trump], who’s using the White House like an ATM machine. And yeah, don’t get me wrong, I agree that the system must change, but it doesn’t change with Obama. People are like ‘Why doesn’t he not accept the money?’ No, f— that! F— that!
“No, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. So, the first Black president must also be the first one to not take money afterwards?” Noah says. “No, no, no, no, no, my friend. He can’t be the first of everything. F— that and f— you!
“Make that money, Obama. Make that money.”
Noah said instead of putting the onus to not accept pay for post-presidency speeches on Obama, Americans should leave it up to “the first white president to not take the money.”
“Instead of focusing on how Obama can make so much money from Wall Street for a speech, maybe we should be asking why Wall Street has so much money to give people for a speech,” he says. “The loose regulations, the intensive lobbying and favorable … you know, the truth is, we can’t get into all of this, there’s too much, there’s too much else that’s going on that we have to talk about today.”
