Stephen Colbert grills Cartoon Hillary Clinton over Clinton's 'Lunghazi' scandal

Stephen Colbert grills Cartoon Hillary Clinton about pneumonia

(Image credit: Late Show)

The big political news this week is Hillary Clinton's pneumonia diagnosis, "or as some are calling it, Lunghazi," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Night, quickly conceding that "not many people" are calling it that, "so far just me, but some." The real problem on Sunday was apparently dehydration, tied to Clinton's alleged refusal to drink water, Colbert said, reading a quote from a staffer — "She won't drink water, and you try telling Hillary Clinton she has to drink water" — then adding: "Challenge accepted." He talked up the benefits of water, 1980s infomercial-style, ending with the tag line "Water: You need it to live" and the admission, after taking a sip, "I am not a fan."

Clinton's failure to disclose her illness for two days "feeds right into the narrative that Clinton's hiding things and that she's too unhealthy to serve," he said, then scoffed at Clinton's claim that "like anyone who's been ever been home sick from work," she's "anxious" to get back to work. "Okay, she's an alien," he said, then re-enacted his own sick-at-home routine. "Now this level of secrecy for something so seemingly minor comes off as, frankly, cartoonish," Colbert said, and that set up a conversation with Cartoon Hillary Clinton. The interview is, of course, cartoonish, and you can watch it 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.