It was an eventful evening for CBS’s host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert. First, during his monologue, Colbert praised Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde’s plea to Trump that repeated several left-wing grievances and claimed Vice President JD Vance was upset during the sermon because he could not have sex with the pew. Second, Colbert later welcomed CBS News’s John Dickerson to give a historically-challenged warning that Donald Trump’s autocratic aspirations are unlike those of previous presidents.
Colbert introduced a clip of Budde where the latter declared:
In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants. [Jump Cut] I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. [Jump Cut] Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.
There are plenty of office cleaners who are not illegal immigrants, and why is a bishop pushing the idea that God made a mistake in creating a child male or female? Colbert was not interested in any of that, however, “That was beautifully said. It took courage. Not only was it beautiful, it took courage to stand up there and say something simple, something so kind, something so true to the example of Christ. And even better, it made Trump so uncomfortable. Because here's the thing: sermons aren't a debate. Trump just had to sit and listen to it. I wonder what was going on in his head.”
After a brief cartoon thought bubble above Trump’s head with a flirting cheeseburger, Colbert moved on to Vance: “Nominal Vice President JD Vance also seemed pretty annoyed to have to just sit there and take Jesus's words. Of course, he looked uncomfortable the whole time. 'Ugh, I can't have sex with this pew! There's no cushions!' Remember that? Do you remember? Do you remember? We all remember. Remember he had sex with couches, which we learned wasn't true. And I mean every single couch he ever saw, he would stick his penis in it, is something that never happened.”
Later, Colbert told Dickerson, “Well, certainly we’re at a time now when autocracy is rising around the globe, and so with the 1930s. I mean, it’s just sort of de rigueur to have a dictator right now.”
Historically, when one thinks of concentrated presidential power, Franklin Roosevelt comes to mind, but Dickerson tried to portray his desire to expand the power of the office as just wanting to hire a few more bureaucratic paper pushers, “Well, literally back with FDR, I can't remember whether—some columnist said if we need FDR to be our Mussolini, then that might be necessary. But when you look at what FDR was asking for as he sought to originally expand the presidency, it was teeny tiny. He went to Congress and said, you know, I need more staff because the modern age runs very quickly and I need more people in the executive branch. 330,000 Western Union telegrams were sent to Washington in opposition.”
Dickerson then sought to contrast FDR with Trump, “They came to Washington, to march, because they said he was trying to be a dictator. He was asking for a couple of staffers and maybe a cabinet official, and he had to ask Congress. That gives you some sense. The reason that's important is Donald Trump sees the presidency as an office that is central and has dominion over all the other branches of government, that's not really the system was designed and with FDR the power was much more spread out among Congress and not centralized in the presidency.”
No president did more to expand the powers of the presidency than FDR, but Dickerson’s bad history aside, Donald Trump has to ask the Senate for his cabinet officials as well.
Here is a transcript of the January 22 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
1/22/2025
11:42 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Somehow, it's still Inauguration Week in D.C., so yesterday Trump, Vance, and their families attended services at the National Cathedral and the moment everyone is talking about is when the cathedral's bishop, Reverend Mariann Budde, ended her sermon with this direct plea to the president.
MARIANN BUDDE: In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants. [Jump Cut] I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. [Jump Cut] Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.
COLBERT: That was beautifully said. It took courage. Not only was it beautiful, it took courage to stand up there and say something simple, something so kind, something so true to the example of Christ. And even better, it made Trump so uncomfortable. Because here's the thing: sermons aren't a debate. Trump just had to sit and listen to it. I wonder what was going on in his head.
CARTOON CHEESEBURGER WITH FEMALE VOICE: Yoo-hoo!
COLBERT: Well, we all worship in our own way. Nominal Vice President JD Vance also seemed pretty annoyed to have to just sit there and take Jesus's words. Of course, he looked uncomfortable the whole time. "Ugh, I can't have sex with this pew! There's no cushions!" Remember that? Do you remember? Do you remember? We all remember. Remember he had sex with couches, which we learned wasn't true. And I mean every single couch he ever saw, he would stick his penis in it, is something that never happened.
…
12:15 AM ET
COLBERT: Well, certainly we’re at a time now when autocracy is rising around the globe, and so with the 1930s. I mean, it’s just sort of de rigueur to have a dictator right now.
JOHN DICKERSON: Well, literally back with FDR, I can't remember whether— some columnist said if we need FDR to be our Mussolini, then that might be necessary. But when you look at what FDR was asking for as he sought to originally expand the presidency, it was teeny tiny. He went to Congress and said, you know, I need more staff because the modern age runs very quickly and I need more people in the executive branch. 330,000 Western Union telegrams were sent to Washington in opposition.
They called the bill asking for reorganization of the executive branch the dictator bill. People marched in the streets from all over the country. They came to Washington, to march, because they said he was trying to be a dictator. He was asking for a couple of staffers and maybe a cabinet official, and he had to ask Congress. That gives you some sense. The reason that's important is Donald Trump sees the presidency as an office that is central and has dominion over all the other branches of government, that's not really the system was designed and with FDR the power was much more spread out among Congress and not centralized in the presidency.
