Stephen Colbert is not impressed with the GOP reaction to Charlotte protests

Stephen Colbert reacts to the Charlotte protests

(Image credit: Late Show)

last updated 23 September 2016

Stephen Colbert began Thursday's Late Show with a look at the protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, which turned violent on Wednesday night and continued more peaceably on Thursday night. "The shooting of African-Americans by police officers and the community outrage that follows seems to be happening over and over again, no matter how many times we do nothing," he said. "And at times like these, it's hard to know what to say. But it's easy to know what not to say."

Colbert began with conservative columnist Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds tweeting about protesters in the streets of Charlotte: "Run them down." Yikes, he said. "These protests turned violent last night, and I just wish there was some sort of respectful, silent civil protests that people could engage in that wouldn't enrage the other side." He put up a photo of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling: "Yeah, no, that's not gonna work, either."

Colbert moved to the top of the ticket. "Well, in the face of continued heartbreaking racial strike, all eyes turn to civil rights icon the Rev. Dr. Donald Trump," he said, though he got in a subtle dig at liberals, too. Trump had two black outreach events in Ohio on Wednesday, both in black churches, though in one of them, Colbert said, "I haven't seen so many white people replacing black people since, well, Brooklyn." At one event, Trump proposed bringing back "stop and frisk," which Colbert judged a bad idea. "Not only has it been found unconstitutional, but if Trump's doing the frisking, it will take him hours with those tiny little hands of his." Finally, he turned to the amazingly obtuse interview in which Kathy Miller, a Trump campaign chairwoman in Ohio, shared her views on the problems with black people. "That's right, there was no racism until Barack Obama was elected," Colbert said. "Martin Luther King didn't just have a dream — the whole thing was an hallucination." Watch 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.