Late Night Tackles President Trump
Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah gawk at Trump's Stephanopoulos interview, coughing fit, polling angst
President Trump is officially kicking off his re-election campaign with a rally in Orlando on Tuesday, "and it makes sense he'd do it in the home of Disney, because his ideas are goofy and his base is snow white," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "Turns out, Trump's approval rating in Orlando is only 29 percent, and most of that is from SeaWorld, after he held that big meeting with the Prince of Whales."
So far, things are a little rough for Trump's campaign — he's trailing Joe Biden badly in a new Fox News poll and also leaked internal polls. "But Trump solved the problem of low poll numbers by firing his pollsters," Colbert said. "That's like firing a canary in a coal mine for its 'bad attitude.'"
Trump "talked about polling in an interview that aired last night with George Stephanopoulos," Colbert said, and he laughed at Stephanopoulos busting Trump for lying about reading the Mueller report, Trump calling Stephanopoulos "a little wise guy," and Trump tossing acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney from the Oval Office for coughing. "Can you imagine working for that guy?" he asked.
The Daily Show's Trevor Noah also marveled at Trump's all-access interview with Stephanopoulos, focusing on Trump's evident love of giving tours, how he "basically treats polls the way some people treat their bathroom scales," and Noah's "favorite moment from this interview," Trump's coughing fit.
"It's like a real-life episode of The Office," Noah laughed. "He's looking at the camera, the camera's going over. ... You have to give it to Trump — he might not be a good president, but he's a fantastic television professional." Also, he added, "I don't think it was a coincidence that his chief of staff just happened to cough right when Trump was talking about releasing his tax returns. Yeah, that didn't sound like a real cough, it sounded more like a 'Shut the f--k up about your taxes!'"
The Late Show had the same thought. Peter Weber