On Thanksgiving Eve, Stephen Colbert dedicated a chunk of his Late Show monologue to a certain tax-avoiding billionaire, Elon Musk—by all accounts the richest man in the world.
“For some reason, there’s always lots of billionaire news,” offered Colbert. “I’ll give you the latest in tonight’s installment of my long-running segment: ‘Rich people, they’re just not like us. Us pay taxes.’”
With that, Colbert dug in, addressing Musk’s little Twitter feud with Bernie Sanders over the Vermont senator’s suggestion that Musk pay his fair share in taxes.
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“First up: SpaceX founder Elon Musk… has been a little prickly ever since Democrats suggested the wealthy pay any taxes,” explained Colbert. “For instance, recently Bernie Sanders tweeted, ‘We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.’ To which Musk replied, ‘I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.’”
It was a bizarre reply, all things considered. “Hey, buddy: You cannot talk to Bernie like that,” Colbert shot back.
Then, he did his best Bernie Sanders impression: “You better watch your mouth, space boy! I’m from Brooklyn, the BK, you keep talkin’ to me like that, I’m gonna slap the tax money you owe right off your top one percent. Remember, in space, nobody can hear me put my foot up your ass!”
