CBS’s Stephen Colbert wrapped up his week of live shows from Chicago on the final night of the Democratic National Convention by hyping Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech as “everything we've been waiting for.” To cap it all off, he welcomed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for some additional party promotional material.
During his monologue, Colbert noted, “All this week, the DNC has been a big TV hit. On Tuesday, the DNC crushed night two of the RNC by 39 percent.”
Colbert had an idea as to why, “One reason could be the speakers. Night two featured Michelle and Barack Obama, while the RNC's second night closed with Lara Trump and Marco Rubio. That's like saying, ‘Sorry, we don't have coke. Is diarrhea okay?’"
As for the actual nominee, Colbert teed up a clip of Harris by recalling, “Harris had this warning about Trump.” In the clip, Harris warned, “Understand he is not done.”
Going full fanboy, Colbert responded, “Madame Vice President, I politely disagree ‘cause after you roasted him this hard, I think he's well done. There we go. Kamala Harris's speech was everything we've been waiting for all week. She hit her opponent on his policy failures. She hit him on his dereliction of duty. She hit him on his lies, his treason, and his crimes and his crimes and his crimes. She is a prosecutor in the trial of Donald J. Trump. He is guilty as charged and now it is time to sentence him to four to eight years of President Harris.”
Harris wasn’t the only one who received copious amounts of praise. During his interview with Ocasio-Cortez, Colbert gushed over President Joe Biden, as if he wasn't forced out:
Joe Biden has gotten a lot of praise this week, and I just don't think we can praise him enough for the courageous and patriotic decision he made. When George Washington got to the end of his second term and willingly set down his office, King George said quote, ‘If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.’ And no one since Washington has laid down this office in quite the same way by his own volition… What do you have to say about President Biden's choice?”
Ocasio-Cortez did likewise, “I think, similarly to George Washington, President Biden did this in order to not just establish, but preserve American democracy, and I think it is one of the largest acts of political selflessness that we may see in our entire lives, and he deserves an enormous amount of credit for the kind of character that it takes to do that.”
Later in the interview, Colbert came down with a heavy case of selection bias, “The Democratic Party has got a few in important firsts. First black president, first female vice president, first female presidential nominee, first speaker of the House, first person of color to lead the House Dems. Why do you think those firsts are established by the Democrats when either party has an opportunity to do that?”
Ocasio-Cortez claimed it was because “it really comes down to what we fight for in living our values, which is gender equality, racial diversity, civil rights, housing equality. And also, and it's not just the civil and gender and orientation and identity rights that we protect.”
Of course Colbert didn’t mention the first female Supreme Court justice, black Secretary of State, first black female Secretary of State, or first post-Reconstruction black senator from the Deep South, but that would upset the narrative.
Here is a transcript for the August 22-23 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
8/23/2024
12:02 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: All this week, the DNC has been a big TV hit. On Tuesday, the DNC crushed night two of the RNC by 39 percent. Those numbers are helping the Dems attract big advertisers. Charmin has changed its slogan to "When we wipe, we win." Are they a sponsor? They’re a sponsor? Okay.
One reason the ratings difference there, one reason could be the speakers. Night two featured Michelle and Barack Obama, while the RNC's second night closed with Lara Trump and Marco Rubio. That's like saying, "Sorry, we don't have coke. Is diarrhea okay?"
…
COLBERT: Vice President Harris made a very good point about her opponent.
HARRIS: In many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man.
COLBERT [TRUMP IMPRESSION]: "Not true, Kamala. I am very serious. Just ask my dear friend the late great Hannibal Lecter." [NORMAL VOICE] Harris had this warning about Trump.
HARRIS: Understand he is not done.
COLBERT: Madame Vice President, I politely disagree ‘cause after you roasted him this hard, I think he's well done. There we go. Kamala Harris's speech was everything we've been waiting for all week. She hit her opponent on his policy failures. She hit him on his dereliction of duty. She hit him on his lies, his treason, and his crimes and his crimes and his crimes. She is a prosecutor in the trial of Donald J. Trump. He is guilty as charged and now it is time to sentence him to four to eight years of President Harris.
…
COLBERT: Joe Biden has gotten a lot of praise this week, and I just don't think we can praise him enough for the courageous and patriotic decision he made. When George Washington got to the end of his second term and willingly set down his office, King George said quote, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
And no one since Washington has laid down this office in quite the same way by his own volition. LBJ did it, but much earlier on and in the face of a war.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes. Yes.
COLBERT: What do you have to say about President Biden's choice?
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think, similarly to George Washington, President Biden did this in order to not just establish, but preserve American democracy, and I think it is one of the largest acts of political selflessness that we may see in our entire lives, and he deserves an enormous amount of credit for the kind of character that it takes to do that. And I say that as well because it wasn't just an act of selflessness. It was an act of -- it is a risk, right? You don't know. There is uncertainty about what is going to happen and the weight of that, I can only imagine what was on his shoulders in that and so to make that decision, we all owe all of what we just experienced in large part to his decision and his choice.
…
COLBERT: The Democratic Party has got a few in important firsts. First black president, first female vice president, first female presidential nominee, first speaker of the House, first person of color to lead the House Dems. Why do you think those firsts are established by the Democrats when either party has an opportunity to do that?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I think that it really comes down to what we fight for in living our values, which is gender equality, racial diversity, civil rights, housing equality. And also, and it's not just the civil and gender and orientation and identity rights that we protect.
It's also the economic abilities for us to actually pursue these opportunities in life and, you know, six years ago, the day after it happened, I was here speaking with you and I was a waitress the day before and I had become a congresswoman-elect almost overnight and I feel like, first of all, that can only happen in America. But also it can happen with Democrats too in terms of what we champion.
