Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers happily contemplate late-night comedy without Trump

Late night comedians discuss comedy without Trump

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, Late Night, Jimmy Kimmel Live)

published 10 November 2020

The Late Show celebrated President-elect Joe Biden's victory over President Trump Monday with a Sound of Music medley.

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"Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Biden did it," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show, glass of champagne in hand. "Finally, after four years, Americans can exhale — unless you're near other people, then please don't, because of the pandemic." Sadly, "the president doesn't want to admit that it's over, but it's over," he said. "And when he leaves, do you know what I'm looking forward to? Sleep, but also the possibility that for the first time in four years, we'll be able to shift our collective focus away from him onto anything else — maybe each other. Wouldn't that be nice?"

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"And I'm also looking forward to, possibly, people being nicer, including me," Colbert said soberly. "The president's only emotions are angry, look at me, and I'm angry you're not looking at me. And because he was the only thing we were focused on for the last four years — and this is entirely my responsibility — I've done harsher jokes than I've ever done in my entire life. This is why they say don't wrestle with a pig, because you'll both get filthy and the pig likes it — and also, your pig impression really hasn't gotten better in the last four years."

"Welcome to Late Night — sorry, Wally, is that the only thing on the card?" Seth Meyers asked on Monday's show. "Huh, I guess we were over-reliant on him." He told a story about Biden, the second guest on his first show, and the Amtrak merch Biden gifted him, including a whistle Meyers plays for his kids every night. "Every day that I look at it, I think about Joe Biden, and I also think about Donald Trump, because these last four years have totally blown," Meyers joked. "Everybody's like, what are you going to do if he loses. Whistle bits. Duh!"

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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.