Stephen Colbert previews Trump's proposed changes to the Constitution

Stephen Colbert previews Trump constitutional amdendments

(Image credit: Late Show)

last updated 3 May 2017

"President Trump had an official call with Vladimir Putin today," Stephen Colbert noted on Tuesday's Late Show. "I hear the call was tense. But let's face it, that's how performance reviews usually go." After raising an eyebrow at Putin being the voice of calm restraint on North Korea, Colbert took a minute to assess the state of the GOP health-care bill. It's not going well, again. It's like losing this vote is some kind of pre-existing condition for these guys," he said.

The problem for the GOP is that moderates are balking at scrapping protections for people with pre-existing conditions. "If you've got a pre-existing condition, you can 'technically' get health care, you just may not be able to afford it," Colbert explained. "Like how I can 'technically' can hire Bruce Springsteen to play my birthday party, but I can only afford Brice Stringstone."

Also domestically, "Trump wants to be able to sue the press — he wants to be able to take lawsuits out against people who say things about him," Colbert said. "Of course, Trump himself would never engage in libel — just ask Crooked Hillary or Lyin' Ted. There's only one problem with changing the libel laws," the Constitution. Reince Preibus says they're looking into changing that. "They want to get rid of the First Amendment?" Colbert asked. "Stop the presses — seriously, stop the presses. And I can confirm, the administration is looking into changing the First Amendment, because I have Trump's rewritten version of the Constitution right here." You can see Trump's new first three amendments 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.