Stephen Colbert sees little downside in Democrats barring Fox News from hosting 2020 primary debates


Stephen Colbert had a good laugh over President Trump calling Apple's Tim Cook "Tim Apple," and a less-hearty laugh at former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joking that his successor should "run for it." And he had a few thoughts, on Thursday's Late Show, about the Democratic National Committee's decision Wednesday to bar Fox News from hosting 2020 Democratic presidential debates. "Oh no!" Colbert deadpanned. "But now how will Fox viewers know which Democrat they're going to vote for?"
"Now the folks over at Fox News, not happy," saying they hope the DNC will reconsider barring Chris Wallace, Brett Baier, and Martha MacCallum from moderating a Democratic debate, Colbert said. "You're a 24-hour news channel and you're bragging that you have three journalists. That's like a menu at a diner saying: 'Hundreds of choices, several edible!'" Trump also weighed in on Twitter, threatening to "do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats in the General Election debates!"
Colbert wasn't buying it. "Look, [Trump] won't boycott the debates, because there are cameras," he said. More to the point, the general election debates are organized by an independent commission and broadcast on all stations — "unless he's gonna pull off all the major networks, in which case, I'm looking forward to seeing Trump debate Bernie Sanders on Naked and Afraid." There was a mockup of how that debate might look.
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The Late Show also found the one person to whom Trump wouldn't give a top-secret security clearance. 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.
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