Ahead of Friday’s 25th anniversary of 9/11, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Michael Kosta spent much of Wednesday’s show claiming conservatives are becoming increasingly Islamophobic. To that end, Kosta did not see why New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani giving a ceremonial pen to his chief counsel and former al-Qaeda defense lawyer, Ramzi Kassem, was such a big deal. According to Kosta, even John Adams defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre.
Kosta teed up a clip of Fox’s Laura Ingraham by insinuating that conservatives’ problem with Kassem is that he’s a Muslim, “And also, wait, wait, wait, what are you complaining about? Who is Ramzi Kassem? I mean, from his name, I can guess what you think is wrong with him. But I'm going to let you say it.”
The actual clip showed Ingraham saying no such thing. Instead, she declared, “We know he's Mamdani's chief counsel. That's fine. But he once represented a convicted Al-Qaeda member whose brother-in-law hijacked the plane that struck the Pentagon.”
Kosta reacted by completely missing the “convicted al-Qaeda member” part and instead focused solely on the brother-in-law part, “Ah, okay. So apparently the mayor shouldn't come to ground zero because his lawyer's former client's brother-in-law was one of the hijackers. And then that guy was in a movie with Kevin Bacon! First of all, I don't like the implication that I can be held responsible for the actions of my brother-in-law, okay? I mean, he married my sister! Yuck!”
As Ingraham noted, Kassem’s client Ahmed al-Darbi is a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist in his own right. According to a 2017 Defense Department press release, al-Darbi “was sentenced to 13 years in confinement for conspiracy, attacking civilian objects, hazarding a vessel, terrorism, attempts, and aiding the enemy.” He was transferred to Saudi Arabia the following year where he continues to serve his sentence.
As for Kosta, he defended Kassem, “But secondly, just because a lawyer represents someone doesn't mean they support their actions. John Adams defended the redcoats accused in the Boston Massacre because he believed everyone had the right to legal counsel, and yeah, that's right. I stayed awake for the first eight minutes of the Paul Giamatti miniseries, so suck it!”
When Adams defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, he argued that they had acted in self-defense out of fear of the mob. With Kassem as his counsel, Darbi pled guilty for his role in planning a suicide bombing against an oil tanker. Adams was a patriot and a founding father. By contrast, Kassem claimed on September 17, 2001, that “The resentment these terrorists felt towards the United States was rooted in political realities shaped by our country's policies.” Ramzi Kassem is simply no John Adams.
Here is a transcript for the September 9 show:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
9/9/2026
11:06 PM ET
MICHAEL KOSTA: And also, wait, wait, wait, what are you complaining about? Who is Ramzi Kassem? I mean, from his name, I can guess what you think is wrong with him. But I'm going to let you say it.
LAURA INGRAHAM: We know he's Mamdani's chief counsel. That's fine. But he once represented a convicted Al-Qaeda member whose brother-in-law hijacked the plane that struck the Pentagon.
KOSTA: Ah, okay. So apparently the mayor shouldn't come to ground zero because his lawyer's former client's brother-in-law was one of the hijackers. And then that guy was in a movie with Kevin Bacon!
First of all, I don't like the implication that I can be held responsible for the actions of my brother-in-law, okay? I mean, he married my sister! Yuck!
But secondly, just because a lawyer represents someone doesn't mean they support their actions. John Adams defended the redcoats accused in the Boston Massacre because he believed everyone had the right to legal counsel, and yeah, that's right. I stayed awake for the first eight minutes of the Paul Giamatti miniseries, so suck it!
