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Fortune Lists Samantha Bee, Shakira Among 'World's Greatest Leaders,' Doesn't Include Trump

Samantha Bee / AP
March 24, 2017

Fortune magazine included late-night comedic host Samantha Bee, singer Shakira, and musician Chance the Rapper on its latest list of "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders," but not President Donald Trump.

Fortune called Bee, known for being outspoken about her liberal political views, "an essential voice in late-night television" because of her show "Full Frontal" on TBS. The magazine also noted that her show and comedy offered "often provocative political commentary."

Bee, who was ranked no. 19 on the list, "st[ood] out as a rare female voice in an overwhelmingly male late-night landscape," Fortune added.

Bee came under fire earlier this month for comparing attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference to Nazis. One of her show's "correspondents" joked that a string of men with their heads cut short or shaved on the sides had "Nazi hair." It turns out that one of the people mocked has been undergoing treatment for stage 4 brain cancer, and "Full Frontal" was forced to apologize on Twitter.

President Donald Trump was noticeably absent from Fortune's list, although his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, was placed seventh.

Bee beat out Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who came in at no. 21, and multiple political leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (no. 31) and former Vice President Joe Biden (no. 23).

There were few heads of state from any country on the list. The highest ranked world leader was the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, who was ranked eighth. German Chancellor Angela Merkel came in two spots behind at no. 10.

While Trump and virtually all Western leaders were absent from the list, Shakira and Chance the Rapper were listed at nos. 27 and 46, respectively.

Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations for the World Series champion Chicago Cubs, was ranked the world's greatest leader.

Rounding out the top five were: Jack Ma, executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group; Pope Francis; Gates Foundation co-chair Melinda Gates; and Amazon's chief executive, Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post.

The only American lawmaker on the list was Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He was placed at n0. 9, two spots ahead of basketball star LeBron James.

Published under: Donald Trump , Joe Biden