Stephen Colbert on Tuesday's episode of "The Late Show" weighed in on Vice President Kamala Harris' new role as the presumptive Democratic nominee and what former President Donald Trump might be concerned about.
“Biden dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris on Sunday, and today, Tuesday, she’s already secured enough delegate endorsements to win the Democratic presidential nomination,” the late-night host said.
“Democrats everywhere are feeling the Kamalamentum,” Colbert continued. “Her campaign broke a single-day fundraising record with 1.1 million individual donors, and 60 percent of those donors were making their first contribution to the 2024 cycle. Holy cow!”
For his part, Colbert was outwardly vocal in advocating for President Joe Biden to reconsider running in the 2024 presidential election. “It’s a shame because Joe Biden is a great president,” he said during a "Late Show" episode that aired earlier this month. "I don’t know what’s the right thing to do here. And I think that this is actually a battle of two virtues. One of them is perseverance. Biden is famous for that . . . [the other] is self-sacrifice. And self-sacrifice takes a particular kind of courage, and that is a courage I believe Joe Biden is capable of. I believe he’s a good enough man. He is a good enough president to put the needs of the country ahead of the needs of his ego, and however painful that might be, it is possible.”
Colbert on Tuesday claimed that Trump is deeply disconcerted by Sunday's abrupt candidate swap, before turning to the ex-president's recent Truth Social posts for justification.
"It’s not over! Tomorrow Crooked Joe Biden’s going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today!" Trump posted on Sunday night, in an ostensible jest at Biden's age-related gaffes — like his struggling debate performance last month — that largely spurred his bowing out. The following day, Trump made a nearly identical jab at Biden, writing on Truth Social, "It’s a new day and Joe Biden doesn’t remember quitting the race yesterday!"
“Uh ... Do you remember making that joke yesterday?” Colbert quipped in response, before parodying the former president. “Joe Biden’s memory is so bad he doesn’t remember what he just said. And ... Joe Biden’s memory is so bad he doesn’t remember what he just said.”
“One reason Trump might be upset about Biden dropping out is that he does not have a good line of attack against Harris,” Colbert said, before showing footage of a recent MAGA rally in which Trump referred to the veep as “Laughin' Kamala.”
Colbert offered an impersonation of Trump, saying, “Laughin’ Kamala. Experiencing joy like a total freak … They call her ‘Capable of Human Emotion Harris.’ ‘The Not Dead Inside Veep.’ She’s not at all sad, folks, and we all know that is ... sad.”
The ex-president has seemingly already tried to raise questions about his second scheduled debate appearance. Despite agreeing to the debate back in May, Trump after Biden announced that he had dropped out whined that it should be broadcast by Fox News instead of the "very biased" ABC.
“ABC Fake News is such a joke, among the absolute WORST in the business," Trump complained on Truth Social. "They then tried to make ‘Sleepy’ look like a great President — he was the WORST, and Lyin’ Kamala into a competent person, which she is not. ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many!”
“Trump’s also jealous of how everyone’s talking about Joe Biden’s patriotic and selfless sacrifice for the greater good,” Colbert said. “Well, Donald, if you really want to steal his thunder, all you have to do is drop out. Imagine how mad that would make the Democrats.”
“Now, one reason Trump might be struggling to find a good attack on Harris is that deep down, he likes her,” the host offered. “Because we know that, when she was running for California attorney general, Trump donated to her re-election campaign. Yeah, $5,000."
“Or, as Fox News is reporting it, ‘Bombshell: Kamala Harris Took Money From Convicted Felon!’”
