Stephen Colbert obviously taped Wednesday's Late Show before Rick Santorum dropped out of the presidential race, because in his latest installment of the "Hungry for Power Games," he paid homage to only three of the fallen candidates: Rand Paul, Martin O'Malley, and Mike Huckabee, all victims of the post-caucus "bloodbath in Iowa's cornucopia, an unprecedented harvest of brave tributes." Colbert, in his Caesar Flickerman persona, spent quite a bit of time celebrating the loss of Paul, noting that by dropping out of the race, Paul lived up to his rhetoric of shrinking the government. Also, he said, "Sen. Paul should take some comfort in living up to his father's legacy of also not being president."
Colbert's Flickerman then turned to the lone Democrat in the Iowa culling. "Also tossed on the funeral pyre of politics this week was Martin O'Malley — or as you may know him, 'Do I know him?'" Huckabee quit the race with a pretty good joke, prompting this remembrance from Colbert: "Brevity is the soul of wit, and yours was a very witty campaign indeed." Finally, Colbert tried to bid farewell to Jim Gilmore, spending a lot of time noting that the former Virginia governor got all of 12 votes, but Gilmore hasn't dropped out. So Colbert gave the Hunger Games treatment to the three candidates who had exited the race by taping time, memorializing the tribute from District 12 (Paul), District Abs (O'Malley), and, oddly, Huckad Strict. Watch below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
-
'Without mandatory testing, bird flu will continue circulating at farms across the country'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinksSpeed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
-
Khan supporters converge on IslamabadSpeed Read Protesters clashing with Pakistani authorities are demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproarSpeed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain PrizeSpeed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
-
Is Downton Abbey set to return for a final film?Speed Read Imelda Staunton reveals that a third movie may be in the pipeline
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 winsspeed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
