Two years ago, on his live 2016 Election Night special, Stephen Colbert came to the shocking realization that Hillary Clinton had lost to Donald Trump before the nation’s eyes. As that broadcast progressed, the Late Show host dispensed with the jokes, started drinking and ultimately delivered a sobering message to viewers on the toxicity of American politics.
“If you remember what happened on our last live election show, that makes one of us,” Colbert said at one point Tuesday night.
He was in a much better mood this year.
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After a pre-taped musical number that strived for some form of unity for the divided country, Colbert had the pleasure of announcing to his live audience that “with 100% of Fox News reporting, the Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives.”
“Democrats control the House!” Colbert said, excitedly. “They can now open investigations into the president. And we’ll finally find out if Donald Trump has ever done anything unethical.” Then, putting the victory in perspective, he added, “The Democrats have taken control of half of one of the three branches of government. All the GOP has is the other half of Congress, the Supreme Court and a president who does whatever he wants.”
“Now, apparently, voters responded to the Democrats’ call to expand health care more than Trump’s message: ‘Latinos are coming to hit you in the face with rocks!,’” Colbert added, noting that Fox News was, in fact, the first network to project the Democratic win. “Wait a second, is Trump right?” the host asked. “Is Fox the only non-fake news?”
Later, Colbert lamented the fact that Beto O’Rourke had lost his long-shot bid for Senate against Texas Republican Ted Cruz. “Then again, why wouldn’t Ted Cruz win in Texas?” he asked. “Because at the end of the day, real cowboys only love three things: barbecue, rodeo, and Canadians who went to Princeton and Harvard.”
“So once again, Ted Cruz defeats Beto O’Rourke,” Colbert added. “Although by not being Ted Cruz, Beto’s still a winner.”
