Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers ask how many times Trump has to lose before he quits his 'coup attempt'

Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert call it a coup attempt

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

published 8 December 2020

Despite "Typhoid Rudy" Giuliani's "serious illness, the president has vowed to continue the fight against democracy," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. In "yet another huge blow to the president's coup attempt," he added, Georgia just "re-certified its presidential election results, once again finding Joe Biden as the winner following three counts of ballots. Well, like the saying goes, third time's the same as the first and the second time, only much more humiliating. But don't feel left out, Mr. President. Biden may have won the Peach State, but you got impeached, and that will never go away."

But Trump is still calling GOP state legislators and governors, begging them to reverse his loss. "Let's be clear here: If you throw out the votes, that's the end of democracy," Colbert said. "It's a short walk from 'Do us a favor, though,' to 'Make me Mussolini, bro.'"

"We are in the worst stage of the pandemic so far, and the outgoing president is laser-focused on two things: overturning the election results and counter-programming Joe Biden's inauguration," Seth Meyers said at Late Night. Even Trump says he's working uncharacteristically hard at his losing fight to not lose. "If the hardest you work is the three weeks after you were fired, that might be why you were fired," he noted. "I'm sure an exhausted nurse working a double shift in a COVID ward was psyched to hear the president bragging that he's working double shifts scream-tweeting at Fox News and sending his maskless gargoyle lawyer to spray COVID spittle on local elected officials."

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"Trump actually called up the governor of Georgia and asked him to overturn the election results — also known as coup calling, because if you're not calling this an attempted coup, then what are you calling it?" Meyers asked. "Just because it's a dumb, lazy coup that won't work doesn't mean it isn't still an attempted coup." That's also true for Trump's many legal losses, he added. "I mean, how many times does Biden have to win these states to prove to people that it's real?"

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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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