Stephen Colbert explains the serious downside of electing a 'true outsider'

Stephen Colbert began Monday's Late Show by telling his audience that over the weekend he converted his "panic room" into a "let's give him a chance room," conceding that the change was purely cosmetic. Almost a week after Donald Trump was elected, "there are some positive signs, I gotta say — you gotta look for hope in things," he said. "Today, Barack Obama held a press conference where he emphasized the need for calm, then immediately left for Greece. He'll probably be back."

Colbert turned to the "seemingly normal news" that Trump has started staffing his White House, beginning with RNC chairman Reince Priebus. "Trump picked an establishment Republican chief of staff, all right? You can back off the ledge," he said. "Now, get back on the ledge, because this is Trump's new White House chief strategist," Steve Bannon, former head of Breitbart News, a leading news source for the so-called alt-right. "Now if you've never read Breitbart, it's the news your racist uncle gets sent to him by his racist uncle," Colbert said. And "here's how to understand the alt-right. Think about what's right, then think about the alternative to that."

Everybody's surprised by the election, especially Trump, who apparently didn't realize how big the job of president is. "Okay, that's the thing about being a true outsider: You truly don't know how the inside stuff works," Colbert said. "It's like a surgeon who prides himself on really knowing the outside of the body: 'You got the arms, you got the legs, how tough could this be? Let's cut him open— ooh! What's all this wet stuff? Let's take out parts and see if it stops the rattling.'" Obama has said he will spend more time with Trump than most outgoing presidents do with their successors, reminding Colbert of a TV show about an apprentice, only mandatory viewing. But on Sunday's 60 Minutes, Trump "sought to reassure a half-troubled nation" by repeating that people don't have to be afraid. Colbert did not feel better: "Okay, 'Don't be afraid.' That's kind of creepy. That's kind of serial killer talk — I don't remember any new president ever having to say that out loud." Peter Weber

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