Triumph the Insult Comic Dog razzes Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke for Stephen Colbert

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog grills Ted Cruz

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

published 6 November 2018

The most talked-about race of the 2018 midterms is probably the contest between Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "It's been very contentious, the polls are incredibly close, and both candidates are spending tens of millions of dollars to win this thing. So I wanted to send a correspondent down there who could deliver a thorough, nuanced report for The Late Show. And coincidentally, my friend Conan O'Brien is on hiatus right now, so he was kind enough to lend us the one reporter who I believe is able to meet those high standards," Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

Triumph, Colbert explained, was the right dog for the job because he'd tried and failed to grab an interview with Cruz when he was running for president in 2016. "I followed Ted Cruz from Iowa all the way to New Hampshire, and I never got to meet him, despite being the only person in the world who wants to," Triumph told Colbert. This time he had better luck. He ribbed Cruz harder than O'Rourke, but Cruz also made more of an effort to join in on the insult comedy, to mixed effect.

"Just remember, it wasn't the Republicans, it was the Democrats that took you into the vet to get fixed — and there is freedom on the other side," Cruz told the dog puppet. "I support spaying and neutering, just like Trump did to you," Triumph shot back. Cruz laughed and the interview was over. But Triumph wasn't done — he got the Cruz crowd to shout "Lion of the Senate," which got shortened to "Lion" and then "Lion Ted Cruz." Get it? A Cruz supporter did. Triumph was at his best with the supporters outside the competing rallies, and in a rare moment of bipartisanship in this campaign, both sides laughed at themselves and their candidates. 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.