Stephen Colbert says Trump is now just stealing his Colbert Report shtick and 'anti-intellectual property'

Stephen Colbert accuses Trump of ripping off his Colbert Report character

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

In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, President Trump said that when it comes to fiscal policy, "my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain can ever tell me." When Stephen Colbert read the interview, he said on Wednesday's Late Show, "that quote about trusting your gut over the brains of experts reminded me of someone I used to know: me. Because when I played a conservative pundit on my old show, The Colbert Report, I talked about that on my very first episode." He showed the clip, and he wasn't wrong.

"Trump stole my bit!" Colbert protested. "That is clear copyright infringement. He is stealing my anti-intellectual property." He jokingly threatened to sue.

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Colbert returned to the Post interview when discussing a dire new federal report. "This report is an urgent call to fight climate change, so naturally the Trump White House released it the Friday after Thanksgiving — they actually hid it in a Tupperware with the leftover green bean casserole," he deadpanned. "But some nosy-Nelly reporters out there actually got it and read it, some had questions for the president."

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And Trump had some puzzling responses, like that the report is "fine." "If I had to describe this report in one word, it would not be 'fine,'" Colbert said. "It would be a different word that begins with F — as in, if you don't believe in climate change at this point, you are fined in the head." He laughed off Trump's claim to have "very high levels of intelligence" "But maybe the best part of the entire interview was his explanation of how climate works," Colbert said, reading an extended passage in Trump voice. He paused a beat. "I have heard better explanations of weather from toddlers on Benadryl."

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The Late Show also had a brief response to a particular pro-Trump defense of using tear gas on migrant children. 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.