Stephen Colbert recaps Night 2 of the RNC: 'Slow and boring' with lots of Trumps

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

last updated 26 August 2020

Stephen Colbert kicked off his live Late Show coverage of Night 2 of the Republican National Convention with a song-and-dance number.

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"If you missed last night, congratulations — despite promises of a positive message, it was dark, angry propaganda with terrible production values," Colbert said. "One big problem is that Trump and the GOP were in COVID denial for months," so as the Democrats planned out their virtual convention, Republicans "had to cram at the last minute." That meant "instead of cool videos and location shoots, the RNC was mostly a single location with speakers taking turns at the podium," he said. "The evening looked like a racist spelling bee," only much louder.

"You know Trump's gotta be upset because last night TV viewership was way down — the GOP drew just 15.8 million people, while the first night of the DNC attracted 18.7 million viewers," Colbert said. "Unfortunately for Trump, Nielsen doesn't have an electoral college." On "Night 2, Trump wasn't going to make the same mistake," he said, so "the reality show star pulled out all the stops, including pardoning a convicted felon on national TV" and filming a naturalization ceremony.

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Colbert ran through the evening — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Larry Kudlow pretending the COVID-19 pandemic is a thing of the past, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo allegedly misusing taxpayer funds, and Vice President Mike Pence driving home "his core message: that he is extremely boring." Eric Trump spoke a surprising amount, considering he had recently taken the fifth with New York prosecutors, he noted. "And then it was Melania time, and she dressed to impress — or to command the Soviet tank corps." The first lady waxed nostalgic, and "during his wife's speech, it looked like Donald Trump was having a really great time," Colbert said, sarcastically. "To recap: Last night was loud and alarming, tonight was slow and boring, but don't worry, tomorrow night's keynote speaker is Mike Pen...zzzzz."

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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.