Stephen Colbert finds a politician more verbally maladroit than Jeb Bush

(Image credit: Late Show)

published 8 October 2015

Jeb Bush earned some pointed criticism for his "stuff happens" response to last week's mass shooting in Oregon, Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show, and he largely deserved it. To give context, Colbert played the rest of the quote, where Bush said that after crises like the Oregon shooting, "the impulse is always to do something and it's not necessarily the right thing to do." "That's leadership: Not necessarily doing anything," Colbert said, illustrating his point with an imagined dialogue: "'Follow me, everyone!' 'Where are we going?' 'Right where we are.'"

Bush should be doing much better than 8 percent in the GOP polls, Colbert said, but "when he says stuff like that, after 142 school shootings since Sandy Hook, it sounds like he's got — how can I put this delicately? — stuff for brains." But Bush isn't the only Republican vying for a position of power who has a hard time expressing himself, he added, turning to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the probable next House speaker. "McCarthy's got plenty of support in Congress, so he's got the House part down," Colbert said, "but apparently, he's still working on the 'speaker'." After playing one garbled speech excerpt, he gravely lauded McCarthy's "strong, English-like words." After showcasing the future House speaker's verbal inabilities, Colbert showed all tongue-tied politicians how it's done. The music and waving flag help lend gravity to Colbert's incoherent speech, so maybe McCarthy should take note — well, that or hire a speaking coach. Peter Weber

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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.

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