Jon Stewart is back on air hosting "The Daily Show" — but only one day a week. Meanwhile, Bassem Youssef — the man known as the “Jon Stewart of the Middle East” — is working every day to both make people laugh and educate them about the horrific humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. I spoke to Youssef, whom I have known for many years, on "Salon Talks" about his current comedy tour, his exchange with Piers Morgan about Gaza that went viral, losing work in the entertainment industry after speaking out about Palestinian humanity and more. The former heart surgeon turned wildly popular comedian did not hold back.

The Egyptian-born comedian, who has become friends with Stewart and appeared many times on "The Daily Show," believes that Stewart “will always be relevant” even though he was away from the show for nine years. He wonders if younger people will embrace Stewart since so many get their news from social media, as opposed to cable television.

Youssef, whose current tour is selling out 3,000-seat theaters, became very passionate when talking the situation in Gaza, calling it the “worst genocide” that “we're seeing it in real time” yet, he frustratingly added, “Nobody is doing anything about it.” And Youssef, who became a US citizen several years ago, also slammed President Joe Biden for in his view allowing this to happen on his watch. As a result, Youssef made it clear that he’s no longer, “Vote Blue no matter who.”

But speaking out about the Netanyahu administration’s actions in Gaza does not come without price, as Youssef explained. The comic shared that he lost a role as a villain that he had been offered in the upcoming James Gunn-directed "Superman: Legacy" movie. While Youssef noted that the official reason given was a script change, the timing coincided with others in Hollywood being fired for championing Palestinian humanity. To him, the real reason was apparent. (Salon reached out to Warner Brothers for comment, but did not hear back.)

Despite the intensity of our conversation about the Middle East, Youssef’s live comedy show does not touch on Gaza. Rather, it’s autobiographical about his life and the challenges of doing comedy back in Egypt under a dictatorship where the leader can’t be mocked. Depending on the election results this November, that experience may be training for what we see in the United States come 2025.

Watch our full "Salon Talks" conversation here on YouTube or read a transcript of our conversation below.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Jon Stewart is coming back. You're friends with Jon, you've been on his show countless times.

I'm so happy for him, man.

He came to your show in the Middle East when you were doing it there. It’s his first time back hosting "The Daily Show" after nine years. You think it'll be as relevant and as news-making as he was nine years ago?

Jon will always be relevant, but the thing is, is the genre of the parody news, that maybe younger children might not be familiar with, because we grew up with that. We were the generation that got our news from “The Daily Show,” which according to Jon himself, it's ridiculous. But this is how we actually knew the news.

I don't know how the younger generation will react because they get their news from elsewhere, from TikTok, from people dancing, I don't know. It's different. But because we grew up with CNN, with MSNBC, with Fox News, Jon was the mirror parody of that, so it resonated with us. I don't know how the younger people would feel about it, but who cares? Who cares about younger people? They have TikTok; we have Jon.

I remember talking to you years ago, and you said something that stuck with me. You said the White House Correspondents dinner, where the president would go and get mocked, said so much about the United States of America, and that it was one of your favorite things.

Yes.

Then Donald Trump refused to go. What does it mean to you that Donald Trump refused to go to the White House Correspondents dinner in the past? Now running for president, lashing out against anybody who mocks him, and is this similar to what you saw in dictatorships?

"People tell you, ‘Go, speak, be our voice,’ and then you get burned."

It is very worrying because even if it was an empty gesture, the White House Correspondents dinner was even a symbol that you can go and you can mock the strongest man in the world, right in their face. That was a tradition, that even the biggest enemies of the United States would look at that, and it's like, "Oh, that's amazing. That's incredible."

When Donald Trump came, for four years, he parted with that tradition. The only other president who didn't attend the Correspondents dinner was Ronald Reagan and he was shot and he even called in from the hospital. This is how important it was. So it kind of worries me because there's so many signs of being an authoritarian or a dictator, but the fact that you don't let anybody mock you, or you despise that, that's a very worrying sign.

I wonder if Jon Stewart will get under his skin. Jon used to, to the point where Donald Trump, before he ran for office, would smear him, would attack him online.

But Donald does this. Donald is a bully. He talks to people who like to see pigs fight in the mud, and they like that. It's like the savage battles of the Coliseum. "Donald, kill him, kill him." He likes that, this kind of raw anger. He knows his audience. His audience, his........

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