Stephen Colbert previews Trump's State of the Union: 'Yesterday it was Maroon 5, tomorrow it's Orange 1'

Stephen Colbert jokes about Trump&#039;s big speech

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

last updated 5 February 2019

Before Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, CBS aired an interview between President Trump and Face the Nation's Margaret Brennan. On Monday's Late Show, Stephen Colbert removed Brennan and asked Trump his own questions.

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"I hope you all had a great Sunday — if you did, you did not watch the Super Bowl, because it suuuucked," Colbert said in his monologue. He made fun of Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine's chest tattoos, then briefly returned to Brennan's pregame interview of Trump before landing on Tuesday's State of the Union address: "So yesterday it was Maroon 5, tomorrow it's Orange 1. Please don't take your shirt off, sir."

"Now when it comes to the State of the Union, just like prom there's an official theme," Colbert said. "This year's theme is 'Choosing Greatness.' Yes, we get a choice: The other options are 'Selecting Mediocrity,' 'Settling for Racist,' or 'Fish.'" Trump also says "unity" will be a theme, he noted, and "to prep for his coming love-fest," Trump tweeted that Democrats "do nothing" while "human trafficking, drugs, and criminals of all dimensions" take advantage of the lack of a wall. Colbert focused on the idea of interdimensional criminals.

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"But Donald Trump says he wants to unite the country, and if you look at his polling numbers, he's getting damn close," Colbert said. "In fact, 56 percent of Americans say they will definitely not vote for Trump next year, and a new CNN poll finds that 4 in 10 call this the worst governing of their lifetimes. ... Another surprising tidbit from the poll, 12 percent of Americans say they've never heard of Mike Pence. Never heard of him. 'Oh my God, honey, look behind the president! It's some sort of boring ghost. He must be condemned to roam the Earth until he completes his unfinished Cream of Wheat.'" 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.