On Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump "held, like, a mini debate, like an appetizer debate, an amuse-douche, if you will," Stephen Colbert said on Thursday's Late Show. "It was the first time the two of them were in the same room since Trump's wedding." And since they were both on the USS Intrepid at the same time, "a lot of people were tempted to just cut the lines and let it drift out to sea," he said. Donald Trump kicked off his part by lying about supporting the Iraq War, but "the biggest question of the night was how the candidates plan to defeat ISIS, and Trump wasted no time wasting everyone's time." Colbert's summation of Trump's answer was brutal but pretty accurate.
"Since last night wasn't technically a debate, there's no real winner," he noted. "But many have declared a loser: Matt Lauer. See, the subject was national security, and the Today show host was an obvious choice for moderator." Colbert showed clips of Lauer dressed up as Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton, noting unkindly, "Paris, that's more foreign policy experience." If he was soft on Trump, "many critics slammed Lauer for asking Hillary Clinton the same question over and over again: Could you hurry it up, already?" he said. And "if last night's forum made you think about voting for a third party, you may want to rethink that thinkin'," noting Gary Johnson's "What's Aleppo?" gaffe. "That is embarrassing," Colbert said. "I haven't seen someone go blank like that since I was asked, Who is Gary Johnson?" Watch that and the latest news on Ammon Bundy 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.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'No war is good'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
The Week Unwrapped: will the US end child marriage?Podcast Why some states have no lower limit on marriage age, plus Black maternal health and the price of olive oil
-
Perplexity AI: has Google finally met its match?In The Spotlight Generative AI start-up provides fast, Wikipedia-like responses to search queries
-
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)
-
'Rust' armorer convicted of manslaughterspeed read The film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal
-
The Beatles are getting 4 intersecting biopicsSpeed Read Director Sam Mendes is making four separate movies, each told from the perspective of one band member
-
Taylor Swift to Miley Cyrus: female artists dominate 2024 GrammysSpeed Read SZA, Phoebe Bridgers and Lainey Wilson were also among the winners at LA gala
