Stephen Colbert grills a 'Religious Liberty Task Force' agent to make a point about Trump, religious liberty

Stephen Colbert and Rob Corddray on religious liberty
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new "religious liberty task force" at the Justice Department to protect religious groups from persecution. "Wow, that could put a real kink in their Muslim ban," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. He had some things to say about the examples Sessions cited to show religious "persecution" in America — nuns having to offer employees contraception coverage, bakers unable to refuse to make same-sex wedding cakes — and the proof Sessions provided for Trump as a champion of religious liberty. "Yes, you're free to exercise any faith, however you choose to say Merry Christmas," Colbert deadpanned.

To investigate if the new task force is really a shoddily disguised sop to Christian nationalism, Colbert interviewed Religious Liberty Task Force special agent Tom Dockford (Rob Corddry), who really cleared things up, with occasional references to human anatomy.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.