Stephen Colbert had some harsh words for Democrats after President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.
Colbert, the CBS late night host, tore into Trump’s speech during his Tuesday show and criticized the address for being “filled with useful lies, and applauded by useless idiots.” At one point, he took aim at Democrats during the speech for silently holding up placards that read “false” and “lies.”
“The man barked out one appalling claim after another, but don’t you worry: Democrats are getting ready to fight back with their little paddles,” Colbert said before playing a clip of Democrats holding up “false” signs.
“That is how you save democracy: by quietly dissenting. Or bidding on an antique tea set. It was hard to tell what was going on,” Colbert joked.
“I’m just kidding that was very cool Democrats. In fact, I made my own sign,” he added. He then held up a placard that read: “Try Doing Something”.
He also jabbed Democratic women for wearing purple as a sign of protest.
“Many women on the Democratic side showed up dressed in fuchsia,” he said. “It’s the kind of bold protest that says, ‘This is a test print and your magenta cartridge is working.’”
Earlier in the monologue, he praised U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for being escorted out of the speech after he repeatedly shouted, “No mandate!”.
Ultimately [Speaker Mike] Johnson called in the sergeant-at-arms to remove 77-year-old Texas congressman Al Green,” Colbert said.
“Now, some people, some people have questioned why so much muscle was needed to remove one old man with a cane. But it turns out it was for a serious reason: when security searched him, they found that he had smuggled in a spine.”
Trump’s prime-time speech Tuesday was the latest marker in his takeover of the nation’s capital, where the Republican-led House and Senate have done little to restrain the president as he and his allies work to slash the size of the federal government and remake America’s place in the world.
The president’s address, clocking in at a record 99 minutes, added up to a defiant sales pitch for the policies that Trump promised during his campaign and leaned into during his first weeks back in office. Trump pledged to keep delivering sweeping change to rescue the nation from what he described as destruction and mistakes left by his predecessor. He seldom addressed his comments directly to the American people, who are trying to keep up with the recent upheaval, while repeatedly needling the Democratic lawmakers seated before him.
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who delivered the Democratic response following Trump’s speech, allowed that “America wants change, but there’s a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Stories by Lauren Sforza
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.