President Donald Trump has done a lot of rage-tweeting about the coronavirus outbreak over the past 24 hours or so. But the one tweet that caught Stephen Colbert’s eye Monday night is one he posted just before 5 a.m. on Monday morning.
“So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year,” Trump tweeted. “Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”
“OK, let me think about that,” the Late Show host said, pausing for a moment. “You’re a monster.”
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“Here’s the thing,” Colbert continued. “We can criticize Trump’s golfing and tweeting. But when he hunkers down and focuses on the problem, that’s when he really sucks.”
For a prime example, the host pointed to Trump’s bizarre, rambling appearance at the CDC on Friday during which he declared that a “vast majority” who have contracted the virus are “going to be fine.”
That reminded Colbert of the classic Bob Marley song: “Don’t worry, about a thing, because the vast majority of things are gonna be alright.” But he was even more baffled by the president’s assertion that he’s especially suited to deal with this crisis because his uncle was a “super genius” professor at MIT.
“I don’t care how smart your uncle was!” Colbert exclaimed. “Epidemiology is not genetic! You don’t get your mother’s eyes and your father’s PhD. Knowledge does not get passed down in the family. That’s why, no matter how much we all know it now, future generations are going to have to learn for themselves that you’re an idiot.”
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