Late night hosts gawk at the decidedly not-sober way Trump and Rudy Giuliani commemorated 9/11
"Saturday of course was the 20th anniversary of 9/11," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "Presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden appeared together at Ground Zero; George W. Bush spoke in Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and one former president did color commentary for a pay-per-view boxing match that did not last an entire round. Was that Jimmy Carter? It was not Carter. We'll never know who it was."
"We also heard from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani," Colbert said. "In his speech, Giuliani focused on what's important from that day: Making fun of how Queen Elizabeth reacted to his handling of the tragedy. ... If you want to see more of Rudy's Queen Elizabeth, you can catch him in the upcoming Netflix series The Clown."
"Rudy's rambling 9/11 speech led many to speculate that he was 'drunk out of his mind,'" Colbert said. "Well, nice to know he's cutting back. Of course, Rudy didn't dignify these accusations with a response — he dignified them with many," explaining why he's not really an alcoholic, or maybe a "functional" one, or something.
Subscribe to 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.
"Look, I'm not saying Rudy was drunk, but that's usually when guys from Brooklyn start trying to imitate the queen of England," Seth Meyers said at Late Night. "I guess Rudy can add this tape to his reel of impressions if he ever auditions for America's Not Talent."
Again, "for the record, Rudy would like everyone to know he was definitely not drunk," Meyers said, "and he let everyone know in a way that's very uncharacteristic of drunk guys — he gave a series of long, rambling answers in which he repeated himself and made no sense."
"Oh man, only Rudy can spend the 9/11 anniversary talking about the time he hung out with Jeffrey Epstein's alleged pedophile friend," Trevor Noah laughed at The Daily Show. "You know your speech went off the rails when people watching it are like, 'I wish this guy would talk more about 9/11.'"
And while all the other presidents were soberly memorializing the anniversary, "Donald Trump spent 9/11 doing live commentary for a boxing match," Noah said. "And look, I'm not judging Trump. I'm happy anytime an unemployed person finds work, and I would definitely rather have him at a boxing match instead of hosting a memorial ceremony," but "how is this his life?"

Tooning Out the News had more from Giuliani's speech, which it turned into a Nobel-winning metaphor.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
'Extremists still find plenty of digital spaces'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squad
speed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump eases Mexico, Canada tariffs again as markets slide
speed read The president suspended some of the 25% tariffs he imposed on Mexican and Canadian imports
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Arab leaders embrace Egypt's Gaza rebuilding plan
Speed Read The $53 billion proposal would rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinian residents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Germany's conservatives win power amid far-right gains
Speed Read The party led by Friedrich Merz won the country's national election; the primary voter issues were the economy and immigration
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'
Speed Read He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Hamas pauses Gaza hostage release, upending ceasefire
Speed Read Hamas postponed the next scheduled hostage release 'until further notice,' accusing Israel of breaking the terms of their ceasefire deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Baltic States unplug from Russian grid, join EU's
Speed Read Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are disconnecting from the Soviet-era electricity grid to join the EU's network
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
At least 11 killed in Sweden adult ed school shooting
Speed Read The worst mass shooting in Swedish history took place in Orebro
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published