Stephen Colbert thanks Oprah for sinking Trump's first Cabinet nominee

Stephen Colbert talks about Andy Puzder's withdrawal
(Image credit: Late Show)

Stephen Colbert said he had not planned on talking about Andrew Puzder on Wednesday's Late Show, but then President Trump's labor secretary nominee abruptly pulled his name from consideration. "Just to be clear, this is not a scandal — he says he just wants to spend more time with Michael Flynn," Colbert said, before getting to the real story.

"The CEO of Hardee's and Carl's Jr. was controversial for many reasons: He had an undocumented housekeeper, made ads that famously objectified women, and called his own fast-food employees 'the worst of the worst,'" Colbert said. "But even with all that, Republicans were still on board with Puzder — until a tape surfaced of Puzder's wife in 1990 appearing on a talk show describing domestic abuse. That took him down. So who brought that tape to light? I mean, who is powerful enough to topple a Cabinet secretary? You guessed it: Oprah! Thank you, Oprah." (Actually, "Oprah Winfrey fought efforts to obtain" the tape, Politico reported late Wednesday.)

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.