Former comedian Stephen Colbert on Thursday continued to turn The Late Show into a show of Democratic talking points as he metaphorically bowed before Andrew Cuomo, unironically calling the New York Governor “your excellency.” Of course, the politician’s disastrous nursing home decision never came up.
Burying the idea that the ex-comedian would speak truth to power, Colbert gushed, “Please welcome governor Andrew Cuomo! Governor, your excellency, thanks for being here. Nice to see you again.” Speaking to the man whose decision to force nursing homes to take COVID patients killed thousands, the host cheered:
Not that you did everything right from the beginning, but the people of New York saw that you took this seriously, and that you did your best to mitigate, and you continue to do your best to mitigate the problem in New York and that on a daily basis you kept them informed.
“Not that you did everything right” is one way to put it. Sounding no different than a Democratic National Committee video chat, Colbert hailed, “Well, governor, thank you so much for being here. Always good to talk to you. Thank you for a steady hand during the crisis here in the Empire State.”
The only time Colbert challenged the Democrat was on the timing of releasing a self-praising book in the middle of the pandemic: “Why write a book about lessons while we're still in the crisis. Aren't there many lessons to be learned? Is this a ‘mission accomplished banner’ or what's going on here?”
In 2020, Colbert abandoned comedy, instead resorting to just screaming at the hated Trump. In September, he called the President a “stain” and an abomination.” In October, he bashed Trump as the “banality of evil.”
If you're looking for comedy, don't go to Stephen Colbert. He's given up on it.
The Democratic talking points on The Late Show were sponsored by Amazon and Oral-B. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
A partial transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Late Show With Stephen Colbert
10/22/2020
11:54 PM ETSTEPHEN COLBERT: Ladies and gentlemen, my guest tonight is the 56th governor to have the great state of New York. His new book, American crisis, is a New York Times bestseller. Please welcome governor Andrew Cuomo! Governor, your excellency, thanks for being here. Nice to see you again.
ANDREW CUOMO: Good to be with you, Stephen.
COLBERT: Now, you and this great state of New York got some air time tonight. Trump said that New York used to be vibrant, now it's dying and he called New York City itself a ghost town. Would you like to respond on behalf of your state?
(....)
COLBERT: You are also a frequent subject of Trump's tweets. Why do you think he's fixated on you, sir?
(....)
COLBERT: it is a massive, I was going to say slow-rolling tragedy, but, unfortunately, it's a fast-rolling tragedy, the number of deaths every day. Because the White House and the administration did not take this seriously from the beginning. Matter of fact, played it down and lied to the people. But if I can talk about the politics for a moment. Obviously it's the right thing to do for the American people to have taken this seriously. But it's also the right thing for him. Not that you did everything right from the beginning, but the people of New York saw that you took this seriously, and that you did your best to mitigate, and you continue to do your best to mitigate the problem in New York and that on a daily basis you kept them informed. He could have had all that good wealth in the American people by seeing he cared. The American people know there's a problem and they can tell he's just lying. Why not for his own sake wouldn't he take this seriously?
CUOMO: Because a skunk doesn’t stop smelling. And the skunk can’t stop smelling.
(....)
COLBERT: Now, I'm going to talk about the 40 states that are currently on New York's quarantine list and three more now qualify but they're exempt, which is New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. How long is this sustainable, sir? My home state, South Carolina, is on that list. What's going to happen in the holidays? Are people going to be able to go visit their families? Can I go to South Carolina, come back and still come into the city to work? How long is this going to go on?
(....)
COLBERT: We are here with New York Governor and author of the new book American Crisis, Andrew Cuomo. Okay, Governor, You got the new book leadership lessons from the COVID 19 pandemic. Why write a book about lessons while we're still in the crisis. Aren't there many lessons to be learned? Is this a “mission accomplished banner” or what's going on here?
(....)
COLBERT: n the book, you accuse Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows of extortion. What happened?
(....)
COLBERT: Well, governor, thank you so much for being here. Always good to talk to you. Thank you for a steady hand during the crisis here in the empire state. Before I go, I have to ask you, your daughters are living with you. The boyfriend was living with you for a while. Can you give us an update on the boyfriend? Is the boyfriend still the boyfriend?
