“You know, ladies and gentlemen, when Donald Trump first contracted the coronavirus, I thought that maybe, just maybe, he would emerge from this experience with a shred of humility,” Stephen Colbert said at the top of his Late Show monologue Tuesday night. “Because honestly, nothing would disarm his critics more than if he stood up and told the world, ‘I was wrong. I have learned my lesson. And I truly sympathize with the hundreds of thousands who have been gravely ill or lost their lives due to this pandemic.’”
“But I forgot about one thing,” the host continued. “He never does that.”
Instead, Trump returned to the White House from Walter Reed hospital on Monday in the most dramatic way he could imagine. “It was timed so it could appear live on the evening news and every bit of it was pure strongman propaganda,” Colbert said, playing footage of the president triumphantly walking up the stairs. “Only Donald Trump would think climbing stairs is a feat of strength,” he joked.
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“Once on the balcony, Kim Jong Don removed his mask!” Colbert exclaimed before imitating the president. “‘I’m back from the hospital, and just to put any lingering doubts to rest, I’ve learned nothing. Kneel before me, ye weak and withered, and inhale my precious droplets!’”
“It seemed like the whole thing was propaganda. And it really seemed like it was propaganda when they released it as propaganda,” Colbert said, sharing a taste of the version Trump posted to Twitter with action movie music in the background. “Good Goebbels!” he added. “Not only was that campaign propaganda, it’s also a trailer for the upcoming movie, ‘Triumph of the Ill.’”
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