During his show on Tuesday night, CBS host Stephen Colbert took it upon himself to sing Democratic Congressional Candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s praises. And he topped it all off by claiming Jesus was a socialist. Ocasio-Cortez is a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, and darling of the Democratic Party. It’s no wonder Colbert has been quick to support her, despite her being endorsed by the New York City chapter of the radical left-wing group, the Democratic Socialists of America.
Colbert took a Tuesday segment of Fox & Friends where Daily Caller associate editor Virginia Kruta talked about attending a rally for Democratic Congressional Candidate Cori Bush. Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the rally, held in St. Louis, in support of Bush. Colbert also referenced the article Kruta wrote about her experience at the rally:
“And the rally was attended by a conservative columnist named Virginia Kruta, and what she saw shocked her to her core. She says when Ocasio-Cortez spoke, ‘I saw something truly terrifying. I saw just how easy it would be to fall for the populist lines they were shouting from that stage. I saw how easy it would be, as a parent, to accept the idea that my children deserve health care and education.’”
Colbert mocked the journalist, inferring that Kruta did not think children should have access to health care and education. Kruta was instead referring to the idea that individuals are not automatically owed to have such services paid for by the government and should work for it themselves. She ended her article with a statement invoking a higher power:
“I left the rally with a photo-- in part to remind myself of that time I crashed a rally headlined by a socialist, but also in part to remind myself that there, but for the grace of God, go I.”
It was at this point that Colbert tied his praise for Ocasio-Cortez into an assumption that "God's a socialist" and “Jesus didn’t charge lepers a co-pay."
This is a sad attempt to claim a moral high ground for a radical left-wing ideology like socialism. It is disturbing to see pundits side with people who call themselves socialists in an effort to virtue signal to an audience.
Read the full transcript of the July 24 segment below:
CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
7/24/2018
11:53 - 11:56 pm EST
STEPHEN COLBERT: Well, you know, frequent viewers of "The Late Show"" know that a couple of weeks ago we had on democratic congressional candidate, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Yeah, people are very excited about her. She's a self-described democratic socialist, and she defeated one of the most established members of the democratic party: New York congressman and that baby doll head-spider from the first "Toy Story," Joe Crowley. She's clearly a rising star of the democratic party, whipping up rallies for candidates across the country. And Saturday, she was in St. Louis to stump for democratic congressional candidate, Cori Bush. And the rally was attended by a conservative columnist named Virginia Kruta, and what she saw shocked her to her core. She says when Ocasio-Cortez spoke, "I saw something truly terrifying. I saw just how easy it would be to fall for the populist lines they were shouting from that stage. I saw how easy it would be, as a parent, to accept the idea that my children deserve healthcare and education." ( Laughter ) Yes, yes, it's every parents' worst nightmare: That late-night phone call, a voice saying, "Your college-educated child has just seen a doctor, and she's going to be all right." "No!" Damn you! No! Why, god? Why?" ( Laughter ) Reading that is like watching someone almost have a light bulb go off in their head but not quite getting there. "Okay, I'm freezing... And there's a jacket right there. I could put it on... But wait what if a hypothetical poor person gets a jacket they don't deserve? Aaaand, I'm dead." ( Laughter ) Scene. Kruta-- kruta or crudda? Kruta will always remember her experience, because as it says in her closing: "I left the rally with a photo-- in part to remind myself of that time I crashed a rally headlined by a socialist, but also in part to remind myself that there, but for the grace of God, go I." ( Laughter ) First, you can't crash a rally. ( Laughter ) They want a lot of people to be there. "First, I crashed that rally; then I hacked into Zappos using only my credit card." ( Laughter ) Second, "There, but for the grace of God, go I"? You know that God's a socialist, right? Jesus didn't charge the lepers a co-pay. "Look, I would cure your blindness but you're out of network." ( Laughter ) We'll be right back.
