Stephen Colbert and John Oliver compare Brexit and Trump. Oliver prefers Trump.

John Oliver and Stephen Colbert talk Brexit and Trump

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

published 12 February 2019

John Oliver told Stephen Colbert on Monday's Late Show that "you have never truly heard disappointment" until you step out of a limo in front of a group of expectant BLACKPINK fans. "Success in a K-pop band is 90 percent confidence," he suggested. "And the rest is knowing how to sing in Korean," Colbert replied.

Season 6 of Last Week Tonight starts Sunday, Colbert noted. "What do you make of the new political reality that you've returned to, because your last show was right after the midterms, right?" Oliver said yes, and both he and Colbert agreed that President Trump may well hold office until 2025. But thanks to a two-term limit, "we all have something to aim at," Oliver said. "We all have a finish line, like in a marathon, that we can all try and stumble over, be covered in a silver cape, and have someone say, 'You really shouldn't have done that.'" He suggested trying to keep Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg alive, Tinkerbell style, by clapping until Trump leaves.

"Help us make us feel better about ourselves as Americans," Colbert said, turning to the Brexit mess in Oliver's native Britain. "The thing with the current president is that, again, there is that end point in sight," Oliver said. "With Brexit, we're talking about generational damage that could end up being done here. So it's very, very bad." He compared a no-deal Brexit to jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, and they talked a lot about sheep.

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Oliver talked about the English accents his two American sons don't have and showed off his royal wave when Colbert crowned him most frequent Late Show guest, beating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Oliver sat down, Colbert suggested they should have remained standing to end the interview, and Oliver shrugged: "I think both you and I are happy in this kind of disappointed awkwardness." And Oliver was. 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.