Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Seth Meyers don't favor going to war with Iran over a pilotless drone
"For weeks now, the Trump administration's been trying to get the American people on board with the idea that it's a good idea to possibly go to war with Iran," Stephen Colbert said on Thursday's Late Show. "I mean, we can all hear the drumbeat, but so far nobody's dancing."
President Trump's hawkish advisers are blaming Iran for several tanker attacks, and Trump has already ordered 2,500 additional troops into the region. "The worry is that if you send more people into the area, if you increase the equipment we have, you increase the chance that something bad happens, somebody makes a mistake, and suddenly you end up at war," Colbert said. "Well the big news today is something bad happened, somebody made a mistake." Iran says it shot down a U.S. surveillance drone over its airspace while the U.S. says it was in international airspace, he noted, "but who are you going to believe, Iran or the U.S. government? — is a question that used to be really easy to answer."
The Daily Show's Trevor Noah said it's funny how the U.S. media is fawning over the downed drone, "almost like America has to do something because the drone left behind an entire drone family. 'Now that family is unmanned!' It's a drone, guys, it's a drone — you don't have to go to war over a drone." He said he agreed with Trump that, as Noah phrased it, America shouldn't "launch a full-out war to avenge a flying Roomba."
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"It's important to note that Trump can't just unilaterally go to war with Iran — the Constitution says he needs authorization from Congress, which he does not have" Seth Meyers said on Late Night. He was unpersuaded by Trump's assertion that the downed drone's location was "documented scientifically, not just words," and he recapped Trump's Tuesday night rally and his Wednesday night on-air phone conversation on Fox News with Sean Hannity, who just couldn't seem to get Trump to hang up. 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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