Stephen Colbert admits he's a 'Bowling Green truther,' poking at Kellyanne Conway

(Image credit: Last Show)

last updated 7 February 2017

President Trump spoke at U.S. Central Command in Florida on Monday, and "surprisingly, he did not order them to nuke the judicial branch," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "But he did make a very bold claim about the media's coverage of terror attacks." He played the clip then paraphrased: "The president is accusing the media of refusing to cover major terrorist attacks. Why? Reasons." Trump's argument "makes perfect sense," Colbert added dryly. "You know the old news adage: If it bleeds, don't talk about it."

But Trump was right about one terrorist attack the press really did not talk about, Colbert said, and when he named it — "the Bowling Green Massacre" — the audience started laughing immediately. That "massacre" was trotted out by Kellyanne Conway last Thursday to justify Trump's immigration ban, and she was right that it was ignored by the media, "on the flimsy excuse that there was no Bowling Green Massacre," Colbert said. "But I think we all remember where we weren't were when we didn't hear that nothing had happened." Conway later said she just made an honest mistake, though she'd made the same mistake at least twice before to two separate publications.

Then, Colbert didn't go all Alex Jones, and it won't make your head spin. "Now I don't want to jump to any conclusions," he said. "Just because it didn't happen doesn't mean that it wasn't an inside job. Think about it: If America isn't going to be attacked, who's most likely not to do it? Us. That's why I'm a Bowling Green truther. I demand that the media not release the reports they did not do on the attacks that did not occur. And I will not rest until they don't." 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.