Stephen Colbert slyly notes that Trump is probably right he won't benefit from his tax plan


Wednesday was a big day for President Trump, Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show. "In an attempt to get everybody to forget about his recent big failures, he unveiled his next big failure, tax reform." The tax plan cuts rates for the rich and for corporations, but Colbert said Trump had a point when he claimed it wouldn't benefit him, slipping into Trump voice: "It's not good for me. I mean, it's about taxes — I never pay those. Nothing to do with me."
Trump could use a win, because he got spanked in Alabama's GOP Senate primary on Tuesday, with his candidate, Sen. Luther Strange, losing to Stephen Bannon's candidate, Roy Moore. Trump was "embarrassed and pissed," according to aides, but Colbert had some unkind words of not-quite consolation: "Mr. President, don't be ashamed that your candidate turned out to be a loser — your supporters seem to deal with it pretty well." He ran through some of Moore's views on homosexuality and race. "Moore seems like a troglodyte, but he has the soul of a poet," Colbert said, and he read a Moore-penned poem he found so inspiring he fact-checked it.
The loss in Alabama isn't Trump's only worry, Colbert said, reading from a New York Times report that Trump left his Strange rally last Friday griping about the crowd size and second-guessing his decision to wear a pink tie in Alabama. After imagining Trump deciding that his pink tie was the root of his many problems, Colbert marveled at Trump's insistence that Republicans have the 50 votes they need to pass the health-care bill they've dropped due to a lack of 50 votes, but they can't hold the vote now, because there's a senator in the hospital. "There is nobody in the hospital — we checked," Colbert said. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate branding
In the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump lambasts crime, but his administration is cutting gun violence prevention
The Explainer The DOJ has canceled at least $500 million in public safety grants
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year