A lot of times, especially when it comes to political debates, people get caught up in esoteric statistics. So the realest thing I can do that has nothing to do with numbers is tell you my personal experience.

Jon Stewart is a dude who grew up in Jersey, hosted the show for 17 years, and created this new way of doing satirical news.

If I want people to be empathetic to my struggle - they don't see hate crimes at the mosque, they don't see people screaming at their cousins, brothers, or sisters who wear a hijab to "go back to your country" - I have to do the same.

For 18 months, leading up to the November election, I did everything in my power to show how ridiculous and crazy Trump's rhetoric was. I literally did a piece called "Donald Trump Is White ISIS." But, partisanship aside, there's a huge populace of people that were like, "I hear what you're saying, but I need something to change in my life, and I would like to have a representative that I think will do that for me."

If you want to take down your opponent, you do it tactically, point by point.

It is an important time to speak out on Islamaphobia. I truly believe in the inherent goodness in people, and there are people willing to be allies. I choose to focus on the incredible potential for good that this otherwise ugly situation is bringing up.

Be as honest with yourself as possible, and try to make friends with people who like you for you - not an iteration of who you are, or who you think you should be - but really like you for you. And when you're creating whatever you want to do in your life, just try to create and put out the truest version of yourself into the world.