Lewis Black on Trump and America's anger

In 2011, comedian Lewis Black devoted his “Daily Show” segment to musing aloud about a Donald Trump presidential run.

Fast-forward to 2016: Trump is running as a Republican and leading the field, which befuddles and irritates the 67-year-old comedian.

We caught up with Black, who is coming to Casino del Sol Resort’s conference center on Saturday, Feb. 6, to chat about his “The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Naked Truth Tour” and Trump’s run. Here are excerpts from that interview; for the full interview, see tucson.com/calientetunedin

Is his race shaping up to be what you expected?

“It’s gone way beyond anything I imagined. I wish I was that great of a satirist and could have imagined what I’m seeing.”

Does he worry you?

“No, it’s just irritating. What bothers me … is what he’s doing. There is a disenfranchised in this country on both sides. ... He’s prodding them. Instead of really trying to figure out what to do, he’s just telling them that he’s going to do it, therefore getting them all riled up to get it done. I would be hard-pressed to think of someone in my lifetime less of an adult running for president. It’s like watching a 14-year-old running for president.”

But he has tremendous support.

“But he doesn’t have tremendous support. That’s the myth.”

So the polls are a myth?

“No, 27 percent of the Republican Party is going to vote; that’s not tremendous support. ... Twenty-seven percent of what are we talking about? What is the real size of that?”

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Do you think he will be the Republican nominee?

“No, because I think we’re going to other states. There are too many of them.”

His rally crowds have been pretty impressive.

“But what a lot of people don’t understand is it’s free. He’s running in the summer; it’s free entertainment. This is a lot of people who needed to get out of the house.”

When you look at Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, who do you prefer?

“I don’t think Donald Trump has any concept of how it works other than the trappings of the presidency and some sort of a bully pulpit. And Ted Cruz thinks he knows what’s best for us without considering the fact that there’s another 65 or 70 percent of the country doesn’t think that that’s best for us. But somehow his best for us is what should be done.”

So what do you think about Sarah Palin endorsing Trump?

“Whenever she shows up it raises the stakes to the level of fiction.”

It seems like there is so much anger in America, and when I think of anger I think of you. Are they angrier than you?

“I think that they’re a little bit angrier than I am, but they have real things to be angry over. ... When I was a kid it was ‘keeping up with the Joneses.’ We are way beyond that. Today it’s ‘keeping up with the CEOs.’”