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All the ways Stephen Colbert ripped apart Trump's first big presidential speech

Paul Schrodt   

All the ways Stephen Colbert ripped apart Trump's first big presidential speech
Politics3 min read

stephen colbert late show

CBS

President Donald Trump received some glowing reviews for his speech to Congress on Tuesday night, his first major address as president since the inauguration, with people noting that he sounded "presidential."

But Stephen Colbert aired his "Late Show" live after the address and had less nice things to say about Trump's talking points, which Colbert mocked one by one in his opening monologue.

"Now technically this was not a State of the Union becaue I think in this timeline the Confederacy won, right?" Colbert said to open the show.

As Trump was introduced as the "President of the United States" to Congress, Colbert chimed in with some Oscar-related thoughts: "Any chance there's a mistake and 'Moonlight' is the president?"

 

Pundits pointed out the optimism of Trump's words, which surprised some used to his more off-the-cuff remarks, but Colbert was more skeptical of the tone.

"Now, the theme of the speech was 'renewal of the American spirit,' which I got to say really just sounds like a Chinese bootleg of 'Make America Great Again,'" the host said.

Trump touted the ways his administration will beat back government corruption with limits on lobbying.

"Adding, obviously, yours truly excepted. I got your back, Vlad," Colbert joked, in a reference to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Trump also spoke about the "deregulation task force" he's set up in every federal agency. Colbert, again, wasn't convinced.

"We're going to reduce government by adding people to the government," he said. "It's like how the key to not getting hungover is just to never stop drinking."

Of Trump's hiring freeze on "nonessential federal workers," Colbert said, "So Kellyanne Conway is out?"

And the "Late Show" host managed to make another dig at Trump's move on trans bathroom rights when the president brought up his trade policy.

"Yes, the Trans Pacific Partnership is just one of the trans the administration is withdrawing support from," Colbert said, to groans from the "Late Show" audience.

Trump expressed the belief that immigrants should be able to "support themselves financially."

"Just like the Statue of Liberty says," Colbert mocked. "'Give us your tired, your poor, but not so poor they can't afford a two-bedroom apartment and, like, a Mitsubishi.'"

Trump sounded a warning about terrorist attacks "all over the world." Colbert added, "And just because we haven't seen the attacks in Sweden doesn't mean they didn't happen. Invisible terrorists are everywhere."

Colbert also needled Trump for saying the country could have been rebuilt several times over with money that went to the Middle East, saying, "Maybe even rebuilt it ten times if we had people who refused to pay their contractors."

And of Trump's endorsement of American manufacturing, Colbert said, "Unless you're making Trump ties, then the Chinese do an amazing job."

Trump got a standing ovation from Republicans when he reiterated a promise to "repeal and replace Obamacare," but Colbert saw things another way.

"That must've been hard on Trump," he said. "People got so excited just hearing Obama's name."

Trump finished his remarks with can-do attitude, telling Congress that "every problem can be solved."

"Well there's one problem we can't solve for four years," Colbert said.

Watch Colbert's stinging take on Trump's speech to Congress below:

 

 

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