Following a solemn introduction where he recalled various acts of political violence dating back to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in his youth, CBS’s Stephen Colbert returned to the jokes on Monday's edition of The Late Show as he and CNN pundit and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger mocked the GOP and President Trump’s ability to “dial it down” at the Republican National Convention after Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump.
Colbert recalled how “RNC speakers have been told to leave their speeches unchanged, but in terms of rhetoric, are also being encouraged ‘To dial it down, not dial it up.’ So the same GOP talking points, but make it feel softer.
The Late Show then put a brightly colored border along the edge of the screen with images of a cartoon puppy, kitten, and butterfly, like you might see on a children’s educational program, as Colbert continued in an infantilizing voice, "Hi. We need to come together to recognize that illegal immigrants are being released from insane asylums to turn your kids into trans librarians. And that marriage should be between one very manly man and one younger, hotter woman who makes TikToks about homemade Tylenol. Shhh, go to sleep now. And don't Google Project 2025."
Later in the program, Colbert welcomed Kinzinger and asked him, “Everyone is talking, understandably, about lowering the temperature. What are you looking for in the president's speech on Thursday? What would be a sign for you that he's taking that advice himself?”
Kinzinger began, “Well, it would be a sign for me if he said, ‘I'm not going to run,’ right. That would be a good one, but probably not going to happen.”
He then doubted Trump’s ability to give a good speech, “Look, I mean, I think if he stands up and he talks about policy and talks about issues and talks about, you know, basically gives a speech he's never given before, then that will be to me a sign that he wants to lower the temperature, and I truly hope he does, but again, I mean, even today he put out a True Social that's like, you know, I forget what it was, attacking Joe Biden, of course, and all the January 6-ers who are really just hostages.”
Earlier, when Colbert was giving his introduction, he had good enough sense to put the “GOP” adjective in front of the Congressional baseball game practice shooting, but Kinzinger appeared to forget his former colleagues, “We cannot have an attempted insurrection during a peaceful transfer of power and then act like it's the other side that's created an environment where there is violence in our discussion. No, look. We have to be serious about this. Peaceful transition of power, treat each other well, and then we’re going to be a successful country.”
Kinzinger would go on to worry that the shooting will make it harder to make the case against Trump.
On post-RNC @colbertlateshow, nothing has changed for @AdamKinzinger re inflammatory rhetoric. He rued efforts to “intimidate those around Joe Biden from telling the truth about Donald Trump.” Then declared “truth” is “Donald Trump truly is a threat to democracy in this country.” pic.twitter.com/5BquZpUxno
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) July 16, 2024
Speaking of the need to dial down the rhetoric, the last time Adam Kinzinger was a guest on Colbert’s show, he compared Speaker Mike Johnson to the Taliban for saying he based his worldview off the Bible. That has nothing to do with January 6.
Here is a transcript for the July 15 show:
CBS The Late Show
7/15/2024
11:42 PM ET
STPEHEN COLBERT: On the other hand, RNC speakers have been told to leave their speeches unchanged, but in terms of rhetoric, are also being encouraged "To dial it down, not dial it up." So the same GOP talking points, but make it feel softer. "Hi. We need to come together to recognize that illegal immigrants are being released from insane asylums to turn your kids into trans librarians. And that marriage should be between one very manly man and one younger, hotter woman who makes TikToks about homemade Tylenol. Shhh, go to sleep now. And don't Google Project 2025."
…
12:08 AM
COLBERT: Everyone is talking, understandably, about lowering the temperature. What are you looking for in the president's speech on Thursday? What would be a sign for you that he's taking that advice himself?
ADAM KINZINGER: Well, it would be a sign for me if he said "I'm not going to run," right. That would be a good one, but probably not going to happen.
COLBERT: Long odds, long odds on that one.
KINZINGER: Pretty slim, pretty slim. Look, I mean, I think if he stands up and he talks about policy and talks about issues and talks about, you know, basically gives a speech he's never given before, then that will be to me a sign that he wants to lower the temperature, and I truly hope he does, but again, I mean, even today he put out a True Social that's like, you know, I forget what it was, attacking Joe Biden, of course, and all the January 6-ers who are really just hostages. That's the thing to keep in mind. They are still defending, you see that this week, an insurrection against our Capitol, that was violent, that attacked police officers and attacked innocent people. And pretending like it never happened. Like, that can't happen in this country. We cannot have an attempted insurrection during a peaceful transfer of power and then act like it's the other side that's created an environment where there is violence in our discussion. No, look. We have to be serious about this. Peaceful transition of power, treat each other well, and then we’re going to be a successful country.
