Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel laugh about Roy Moore's new interview with a 12-year-old girl

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

published 12 December 2017

Tuesday is the big election in Alabama, with either Roy Moore or Doug Jones being sent to the Senate. On Monday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel said he did not understand why Moore is slightly favored to win the race, given his alleged predatory behavior toward teenage girls and related ban from the mall. "Maybe it's me, but if you aren't allowed to set foot inside a Hot Topic store, you shouldn't be allowed in the Senate of the United States," Kimmel said.

"A group that backs President Trump sent a 12-year-old girl to interview Roy Moore — for real," Kimmel said. "I don't know if the idea was to prove he could sit next to a young girl without hitting on her, but in any event, with this young lady at least, Judge Moore was a perfect gentleman." Well, until the end, in this version of the interview. "Obviously we faked that, but if he had done it, they'd still defend him," Kimmel said. He ended with a joke about Trump's first choice in the race being Jared from Subway.

"Roy Moore supporters spent the weekend going door to door, just like Roy Moore has to do when he moves into a new neighborhood," Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show, continuing the hebephilia jokes. He also found the interview with a 12-year-old girl a puzzling choice. "This is the worst matchup for an interview since they sent that honey-glazed ham to interview Chris Christie," he said. Still, if most Republicans in Congress are less than thrilled with Moore, Trump has gone all-in, and that's not surprising, Colbert said. "They both have a deep love of country — the country's Russia, but still." He played a recent video of Moore trashing the U.S., lauding Russia's Vladimir Putin, and saying a phrase in Russian that Colbert had a novel translation for. 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.