Stephen Colbert was the first late-night host out of the gate to take on President Donald Trump’s apparent decision to declare a national emergency and build his wall with or without Congress.
During his Late Show monologue on Thursday, Colbert explained to his audience that we still did not know whether Trump would sign the funding bill to keep the government open before Friday’s deadline since it only offered him less than a quarter of the money he originally wanted for the wall.
“Wow, that’s a serious walk back,” the host said. “Honey, I know you wanted a diamond engagement ring, but what about this candy necklace that says ‘Hot and Horny?’”
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Since he was recording his show hours before it would air, Colbert could only “assume” that Trump would end up signing the bill, “even though he claims he can get all the funding he wants for his wall if he just declared a national emergency.”
“That, of course, would be insane,” he added. “It would be usurping Congress’ power. There would be immediate court challenges. Many in his own party have said it would set a terrible precedent of unconstitutional overreach by the executive branch. So I seriously doubt…”
With that, he cut to the clip of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announcing that the president would do just that and that he would support the declaration.
Imitating McConnell’s turtle-esque drawl, Colbert added, “And you can tell by the tone of my voice and the urgency with which I’m informing you that this is a true national emergency. In a related matter, I see that the Senate chamber is on fire and filled with scorpions. Everybody run. Run for your lives.”
