“The 2020 presidential election is going to be here any minute and of course elections mean debates,” Stephen Colbert said on Thursday night, reporting to his audience that the Democratic National Committee has decided not to let Fox News host any of its primary debates this time around.
“Oh no!” the host exclaimed. “But now how will Fox viewers know which Democrat they’re going to vote for?”
The decision was made after The New Yorker revealed that Fox News had deliberately buried a story about President Trump’s affair with Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. But Fox News has pushed back hard on the decision, issuing a statement that read in part, “We hope the D.N.C. will reconsider its decision to bar Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, all of whom embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism, from moderating a Democratic presidential debate.”
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“You’re a 24-hour news channel and you are bragging that you have three journalists,” Colbert said in response. “That is like a menu at a diner saying, ‘Hundreds of choices, several edible.’”
Trump took the news even worse, threatening to block unnamed “Fake News Networks” from hosting his general election debates.
“Look, you won't boycott the debates, because… there are cameras,” Colbert said. “Plus, sir, Mr. President, neither party controls the general election debates. They are not sponsored by individual networks. They are overseen by an independent commission and typically aired on all major stations.”
“Unless he's going to pull the debates off all the major networks, in which case I'm looking forward to seeing Trump debate Bernie Sanders on Naked and Afraid.”
