Joining new Late Show host Stephen Colbert on Wednesday’s show, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) received quite the welcome as the liberal late-night host compared her to Batman and repeatedly urged her to consider running for president.
Near the tail end of his opening monologue, Colbert hyped that Warren “has launched a one-woman crusade against the billionaire class” and is “like Batman, but her enemy is Bruce Wayne.”
>> Two weeks ago, Colbert cited Thomas Jefferson in urging Vice President Joe Biden to join the presidential race and last week he hectored conservative Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz from the left on Reagan, amnesty and gay marriage. <<
Later in the September 24 program, Colbert introduced her as “the sheriff on Wall Street” and admitted to her that “you’ve come a long way, baby, if I may coin a corporate phrase.” Reminiscing about the first time he met her, Colbert hyped that she serves as “one of the household names in American politics and yet you are one of the few household names that is not running for president of the United States.”
He then pleaded: “Are you sure you're not running for the president of the United States? Have you checked the newspapers lately, because a lot of people have jumped in. You might have done it in your sleep.”
When she said she was sure she’s not running, Colbert adopted some sarcasm in trying to make her reconsider:
I think these days politicians have to check the “opt-out” button, okay? It’s like unsubscribing from an e-mail? You say you're not running for president. Can you tell us why you'd be such a terrible choice to be president of the United States, why we shouldn't be clamoring for an Elizabeth Warren presidency.
Predictably, the progressive Senator emphasized that she’s spending each day in the Senate “in the middle of a huge fight, and it's a fight about what this country is going to look like going forward” where “the game is rigged.”
Doing his part to help amplify her talking points, Colbert asked her to clarify and expand upon her last point: “When you say ‘game’ when you say ‘game’ – that's a dramatic thing to say. What is the game you're talking about?”
The softball allowed Warren to bring the firmly liberal audience to their feet with raucous applause that was capped off by her railing against the wealth and asserted that America is “just not working and it’s time for us to take that government back and make it work for us.”
Colbert then continued his affectionate praise for Warren:
Well, you don't sound like you're running for president, I'll tell you that. (LAUGHTER) Okay, so how do you unrig the system? If the game is rigged, how do you de-rig it? Do you have to end the game? Do you have to knock over the monopoly board and then pick up the pieces?
Aside from a handful of instances in which Colbert politely played a soft devil’s advocate, the pair traded barbs attacking trickle down economics and blaming the Ronald Reagan administration and succeeding presidencies for the downfall of the middle class following the supposedly overwhelming success of the New Deal.
The relevant portions of the transcript from CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on September 23 and the early moments of September 24 can be found below.
CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
September 23, 2015
11:38 p.m. Eastern
STEPHEN COLBERT: Incredible. She has launched a one-woman crusade against the billionaire class. She's like Batman, but her enemy is Bruce Wayne. [LAUGHTER]
(....)
COLBERT: Now, Senator Warren, you've come a long way, baby, if I may coin a corporate phrase.
WARREN: From Massachusetts to new York.
COLBERT: That's right. The first time I met you, you were not a Senator. Now you are a Senator. And not only – not only are you a Senator you're one of the household names in American politics and yet you are one of the few household names that is not running for president of the United States. Are you sure you're not running for the president of the United States? Have you checked the newspapers lately, because a lot of people have jumped in. You might have done it in your sleep.
WARREN: Right. I'm sure I'm not.
COLBERT: I think these days politicians have to check the “opt-out" button, okay? It’s like unsubscribing from an e-mail? You say you're not running for president. Can you tell us why you'd be such a terrible choice to be president of the United States, why we shouldn't be clamoring for an Elizabeth Warren presidency.
WARREN: So, look, I'm out there every single day in the middle of a huge fight, and it's a fight about what this country is going to look like going forward. You know, the game is rigged and we've got a country –
COLBERT: When you say “game” when you say “game” – that's a dramatic thing to say. What is the game you're talking about?
WARREN: I'm talking about our country and how it's run. Here we are, the richest country on Earth, we just – we have so much going for us, and yet, we have a federal government that works great for millionaires. It works great for billionaires. It works great for giant corporations, for anybody who can hire an army of lobbyists, an army of lawyers, give lots of campaign money. For the rest of America, it's just not working, and it's time for us to take that government back and make it work for us. [CHEERS AND APPLUSE]
COLBERT: Well, you don't sound like you're running for president, I'll tell you that. (LAUGHTER) Okay, so how do you unrig the system? If the game is rigged, how do you de-rig it? Do you have to end the game? Do you have to knock over the monopoly board and then pick up the pieces?
(....)
WARREN: You remember trickle-down economics?
COLBERT: I do remember trickle-down economics. Rich guys like me you cut my taxeses and you give me more money and then I spend more and eventually it trickles down to people who don't make the kind of money I do.
WARREN: Except the last part never worked. So what trickle-down economics was all about saying to the rich and powerful, the government will help you get richer and more powerful.
(....)
COLBERT: What are you doing specifically – it all sounds good. It all sounds good, but what are you doing specifically to make that happen?
WARREN: So, look, you have to get out there and fight for it. Here's the part we have to understand. Starting in the 1980 when the whole notion was fire the cops, it was called deregulation, cut taxes for those at the top meaning there was less to invest on education, infrastructure, basic research. So, what's happened from 1980 to 2012, the latest year for which we have the numbers. The 90 percent, everybody not in the top 10 percent, how much of the growth can they get? That G.D.P. kept going up, how much of the income growth did they get? And the answer is zero, none, not a bit. 100 percent of income growth in this country since the 1980s has gone to the top 10 percent. That is not only wrong. That is going to destroy our country unless we take our government back. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
