Late night hosts joke darkly about gun-toting Santa, secret superspreader Trump

COVID-19's Omicron variant appears to be more transmissible but less severe than the Delta variant, and that may be because "it shares genetic code with the common cold," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "This pandemic has gone on for so long, we're officially in the remix stage." Oh, and we're also "back at cruise ship COVID," he sighed. "What's next, a new season of Tiger King? There's what!?"

"The only thing spreading faster than Omicron is misinformation from conservatives," Colbert said, citing a tweet from Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wis.) claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci "overhyped" both COVID-19 and AIDS. He told Johnson where he could stick that comment.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.