Stephen Colbert is a notoriously funny man who has been making us laugh for years, first on
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, then on
The Colbert Report, and now as the host of
The Late Show, where he always dissects politics with a satirical funny bone and a scrutinous eye in equal measure. Never, however, has he become as overwhelmed by the state of politics than he was on Thursday night when he became so choked with emotion, he actually fought back tears.“We’re taping this just a little while after Donald Trump walked into the White House briefing room and tried to poison American democracy,” he said directly after current President Donald Trump addressed the nation amid the ongoing vote-count. “That’s why I’m not sitting down yet. I just don’t feel like it yet. That’s also why I’m dressed for a funeral.”
“The president came out into the White House briefing room and lied for 15 minutes," he continued. "Just nonsensical stuff about illegal vote dumps and corrupt election officials and secret Democratic counting cabals, and I don't know, long-form birth certificates, probably. It's all the same. And if you did not know that Joe Biden was getting close to 270, Donald Trump just provided all the proof you will ever need.”"So we all knew he would do this.”This is when Stephen dropped his head to his chest and took a long pregnant pause. When he finally was able to look back up at the camera, his voice quavered with emotion."What I didn't know is that it would hurt so much. I didn't expect this to break my heart. For him to cast a dark shadow on our most sacred right from the briefing room in the White House — our house, not his — that is devastating."On Thursday, in his speech from The White House,
Trump reiterated his long-standing claim that there is massive voter fraud and that election officials are corrupt, conspiring with Democrats to “steal” the election. He has also continued to rant on his official Twitter feed about voter and election fraud; so much so that Twitter had to
slap misinformation warnings on his Tweets."He is the President of the United States," Stephen continued "That office means something, and that office should have some shred of decency."Saying Republicans need to speak up (“all of them”) to stop the insanity of the Trump train, he insisted they speak up now, “because for evil to succeed all that is necessary is for good men to do nothing.”Making a clear analogy between Donald Trump and the policies of Nazi Germany, Stephen went even further, boldly asserting that Trump is a fascist and reminding viewers of what happened in Europe when people turned a blind eye. “You only survived this up till now because a lot of voters didn't want to believe everything that was obvious to so many people: that Donald Trump is a fascist. And when it comes to democracy versus fascism, I'm sorry; there are not fine people on both sides. So you need to choose: Donald Trump or the American people. This is the time to get off the Trump train, because he told you where the train is going and it's not a passenger train and he'll load you on it someday too."Noting that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who was just re-elected,
has refused to take a stance on Trump’s allegation, Stephen added, “The maxim of the law is
qui tacet consentire: ‘Who is silent gives consent’ . . . He can suck silence. He can also suck my
frosted YumNut.”This is the most heated and worked-up we’ve ever seen Stephen, and frankly, we are here for it.[video_embed id='2071661']Before you go: Will we see more candidates like Donald Trump in the future?[/video_embed]
