To help him make sense of night two of the Republican National Convention, CBS’s Stephen Colbert welcomed Sen. Elizabeth Warren to a live Tuesday edition of The Late Show, where the duo agreed that true national unity in the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump means Republicans dropping their policy preferences and endorsing Democratic priorities, mainly gun control.
Colbert declared, “Senator, the RNC theme tonight was Make America Safe Once Again, and one of the things that makes America at any moment not a safe place is the open, ready, ubiquitous availability of guns, including the AR-15-style gun that was used against the former president on Saturday that the Democrats would like to eliminate, they would like those not available for purchase.”
He then wondered, “Were you surprised there was no discussion of gun control of any kind?”
One of the reasons people are so cynical about politicians calling for unity is that it tends to end up with them telling people to shut up and get with their program, which is exactly what Warren did, “You know, this should be the moment for it. They're talking about having unity, and everyone is deeply concerned, and rightly so, about the attack on the president. This is the moment when let’s show what unity really means, and that is Republicans and Democrats, I'll issue the open invitation to come together and let's ban assault weapons in this country.”
Colbert did not see how anyone could take exception, “We’re on his side, we don't want this to ever happen again.”
Warren continued, “This is for Donald Trump, this is for our children, this is for children in schools, this is for people at movie theaters. You know, I come from a state that has really serious gun safety laws, I just want to point out in this, that, just, what we have in Massachusetts, if the rest of the country would have the same kind of gun laws, we could reduce death by gun by about 40 percent in this country. Those are our neighbors, our friends, the people we love, it is time to get serious about gun safety in this country.”
If Republicans reacted to an attempted stabbing of a Democratic presidential candidate by claiming that the country needs to unify by realizing that knife violence proves gun control isn’t the answer, would Colbert and Warren call that unity? Certainly not, so why is using an attack on a Republican to push Democratic priorities any different?
Here is a transcript for the July 16-17 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
7/17/2024
12:36 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Hey, everybody! Welcome back to The Late Show. You know who that is, we’re talking here with Senator Elizabeth Warren. Senator, the RNC theme tonight was Make America Safe Once Again.
ELIZABETH WARREN: Yeah.
COLBERT: And one of the things that makes America at any moment not a safe place is the open, ready, ubiquitous availability of guns—
WARREN: Yes.
COLBERT: Including the AR-15-style gun that was used against the former president on Saturday that the Democrats would like to eliminate, they would like those not available for purchase. Were you surprised there was no discussion of gun control of any kind?
WARREN: You know, this should be the moment for it. They're talking about having unity, and everyone is deeply concerned, and rightly so, about the attack on the president. This is the moment when let’s show what unity really means, and that is Republicans and Democrats, I'll issue the open invitation to come together and let's ban assault weapons in this country.
COLBERT: We’re on his side, we don't want this to ever happen again.
WARREN: This is for Donald Trump, this is for our children, this is for children in schools, this is for people at movie theaters. You know, I come from a state that has really serious gun safety laws, I just want to point out in this, that, just, what we have in Massachusetts, if the rest of the country would have the same kind of gun laws, we could reduce death by gun by about 40 percent in this country. Those are our neighbors, our friends, the people we love, it is time to get serious about gun safety in this country.
