Stephen Colbert nods at Oprah's campaigning in Georgia, laughs at Mike Pence, drags in Harry Potter

Stephen Colbert on Oprah going down to Georgia

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

last updated 2 November 2018

Stephen Colbert reminded viewers Thursday night that he will be live on Election Night, pre-empting CBS News' coverage of the midterms. "But there's big election news already, because today Oprah hit the campaign trail for Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams," he said. "This is not easy, there's a sacrifice here. To take this partisan, political stand, Oprah is leaving 60 Minutes. Yeah, you know that that means? She's out of a job. How's she gonna pay her bills? We've got to set up a GoFundMe — so she can fund us."

Winfrey made a special point of insisting that she's not stumping for Abrams because she has any political aspirations of her own — "She's running," Colbert deadpanned — but because she wants everyone to vote. And she wasn't above pouring on the guilt, he noted. "Wow, I've heard of families guilt-tripping you, but only Oprah can make a family guilt-trip you from beyond the grave."

"But Abrams' opponent, Brian Kemp, is fighting back against Winfrey with who many have called the white male not-Oprah, Mike Pence," Colbert said. Will Ferrell was also in Georgia stumping for Abrams, but "the vice president had a message for those out-of-touch showbiz elites." Namely, Pence insisted he's also "kind of a big deal", and Colbert paraphrased his anti-Hollywood platitude: "This ain't Hollywood, Oprah! We don't cotton to big-city billionaires who are also TV stars! Take it from me, vice president to Donald Trump!"

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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.