Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State leader killed Saturday by U.S. Special Forces, was "a notorious terrorist responsible for the death of thousands, a true monster," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show, thanking all the brave service members "who risked their lives and got this job done." Colbert said he "would also like to congratulate President Donald J. Trump, but he just makes it so damned hard, because when he broke the news yesterday morning, Trump's entire press conference was about himself."
"Yes, Trump was obsessed — you might say he had al-Baghdadi issues," Colbert joked. Trump's description of the raid "got pretty graphic," and then he started comparing al-Baghdadi's death with the Special Forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden, he sighed. "You know how I know that killing bin Laden was a big deal? Because Barack Obama never had to say that killing bin Laden was a big deal. It was a big deal. So was this," he added. "Killing Baghdadi was a big deal. It was bigger than the bin Laden announcement in one way: length. Trump delivered a 50-minute performance compared to Obama's nine-minute speech. Keep in mind, that was Obama, so you know four minutes of that speech was 'uh ... look ...'"
"We thought it might be fun to mash-up Trump's speech about al-Baghdadi with Obama's about bin Laden," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live, "and we were right, it was."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Trump is the only person who can turn a unifying occasion into a d-ck-measuring contest," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. "You don't have to pretend this guy is a bigger 'get' than bin Laden. First of all, it's childish. Secondly, he's not. Bin Laden changed the entire world forever. It's 18 years after 9/11 and I still can't take 4 ounces of lotion onto an airplane."
Noah also laughed over one aspect of Trump's description of the raid: "Yes, instead of knocking on the door and asking ISIS if they could come in, the Special Forces instead chose to blow a hole through the wall. Which must have been traumatizing for Trump to watch. He was just sitting there, like, 'No! Why did you damage that beautiful wall?'" Watch below. Peter Weber
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in ZürichThe Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
