Stephen Colbert smartly notes the big flaws in Mitt Romney's stop-Trump 'reality show strategy'

Stephen Colbert tears apart Mitt Romney stop-Trump strategy

(Image credit: Late Show)

published 4 March 2016

On Thursday's Late Show, Stephen Colbert took a look at the day's monumental battle between Donald Trump and the Republican establishment, as represented by Mitt Romney. The basic plot is that establishment Republicans "don't want to be with this guy, but the voters are choosing this," he said. "It's like an arranged marriage, and unlike Trump's other marriages, this one could last eight years." And faced with rising panic, the #NeverTrump side did the only thing they could think of, Colbert said. "Yes, they broke the seal on Mitt's hyperbaric dignity chamber, and he shambled out and brought the pain."

He wasn't overly impressed. Romney listed all of Trump's failed business ventures? "True, Trump has put his name on some terrible investments," Colbert said. "For example, four years ago he endorsed Mitt Romney for president." But he also noted some more fundamental and, frankly, surprisingly cogent arguments against the stop-Trump Republicans.

Romney's plan to prevent Trump from winning isn't very inspirational for the world's oldest living democracy, Colbert said, calling it "a system often employed by bros in bars that rhymes with 'clock-block.'" But the strategy isn't just anti-democratic, it's also dumb. "This game of ganging up against the popular guy who's actually winning, that's not democracy," Colbert said. "That's a reality show strategy, and that's Trump's home turf. Do you honestly think you're going to be better at this than him? That's like saying: 'Hey, you know the way to fix our great white shark problem? Let's get in the water with them. But first, let me put on my lucky ham.'" Watch Colbert's seriously funny lecture below. 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.