Trevor Noah’s difficult childhood in a Soweto township in South Africa was fodder for his address to House Democrats Friday as they closed out their annual retreat in Baltimore, Md.
Noah, who grew up under apartheid and is now host of the Daily Show, told Democrats about having to hide his own existence because his mother and father were of mixed races, which was prohibited. He could not even been seen in public holding his mother’s hand.
“I grew up a crime,” he told the Democrats, according to someone at the event, which was closed to the press.
Noah, who describes himself as a “progressive,” was among an all-star list of speakers at the retreat. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spoke to Democrats on Thursday.
Wealthy environmentalist Tom Steyer addressed lawmakers on Friday about climate change and the need to advance a green energy agenda. Steyer told lawmakers that the Republican presidential field of candidates is ignoring climate change.
“I listen to Marco Rubio and all of the Republican candidates who say we can’t afford to address this problem,” Steyer said, according to a Democratic lawmaker. “They have not done their homework.”
Steyer cited data that 2015 was “the hottest year on record,” and that warned Democrats that climate change is “a race, and it’s not a race we can be complacent about.”
Sen. Rubio, R-Fla., has rejected aggressive efforts to reduce carbon emissions and advance green energy, embracing the view of many skeptics of man-made climate change that such policies will hurt the economy and hike energy prices without making much of a mark on the environment.
