NJ native Kal Penn, who starred in Harold and Kumar’s Go to White Castle, headlined a comedy show fundraiser for a Jersey City mayoral candidate.
Penn also worked in the President Barack Obama Administration.
After other comedians and Penn performed, Penn sat down with mayoral candidate Mussab Ali onstage and had a discussion.
Ali joked the White Castle in Journal Square was going to close.
Kal Penn from Harold and Kumar and his Jersey Roots
Penn explained he has a background in politics, and his family were activists in the Indian independence movement. He also said his family was attacked for being Indian in Jersey City more than 30 years ago.
“It doesn’t matter what your career or job is. You can still do something in public service if you want,” he noted to applause.
“What was the most surreal experience you had in Hollywood?” Ali asked.
Penn said he did a Sesame Street episode that was really fun.
“It was the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. I did a scene with Grover, and Grover talks to you when the cameras are off, and he talks to you as f***in’ Grover!” he exclaimed.
Penn also noted that in the sequel Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, an actor played then-President George W. Bush.
“I convinced James to not break character just because I wanted to f***in’ have lunch with George Bush,” he said to laughter.
Politics and Jersey City
Penn criticized the media for promoting stories driven by emotions like fear and anger. He said that during his time in the Obama Administration, they accomplished a lot that was not covered well.
“We would tell people about it, but it wasn’t vitriolic enough to sell ad space,” Penn noted.
“What is the most important thing people can do under this Trump presidency in the next four years?” Ali asked.
“This is a time you can really double down on state and local politics. There’s a lot to be done,” Penn argued.
“How do we win this election?” Ali asked.
Penn commended him for discussing significant issues like mental health.
“This is a really big group of people for a mayoral race so far out,” he said about the room of approximately 105 people.
“Why are you running?” he asked.
Penn then joked he told the FBI he has smoked more fake weed than real weed as
part of his background check for working in the Obama Administration.
But he also called himself a stoner during his act.
“When I was in high school, I was a good brown kid who was gonna be a doctor,” Ali explained.
“I graduate, I’m in college. I’m in organic chemistry class, and Trump has this quote about Jersey City,” Ali noted.
Fighting Islamaphobia in Difficult Times
Ali noted that Trump’s claim that Muslims in Jersey City were celebrating on 9/11 greatly hurt him.
“No one was celebrating,” he declared.
Ali mocked the president-elect for claiming he looked across the Hudson River and saw celebrations.
“We immigrated September 2000,” he explained, noting that his dad got a job at Newark Airport shortly afterward.
“September 12th, he’s fired from his job. They literally fired him because his name was Muhammad. My mom wears the hijab. Literally, for 3 years, no one sat next to her on a bus when she went to work,” he explained.
“It’s kind of baller, though, to have a whole row to yourself,” Penn joked.
Ali noted that it feels like deja vu from Trump’s first election eight years ago.
“What can we do but respond locally? Eight years ago, I ran for school board. I was 20 years old,” he said.
Ali noted he won his first election by 68 votes and was the first Muslim elected in Jersey City to applause. He also explained he is a cancer survivor who graduated from Harvard.
“Why can’t someone like me step up?” Ali asked rhetorically. “Jersey City is the most diverse city in America. But … we’ve only elected one mayor of color.”
Ali, like other candidates, said he wants to work on fighting gentrification and maintaining the city’s diverse culture.
He is part of a crowded field against other Democrats like former Gov. Jim McGreevey, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea, Council President Joyce Watterman, and Ward E Councilman James Solomon.
None of them have expressed anti-marijuana sentiments. But none of them are running for mayor on weed either.
