“Folks, Donald Trump did more things today,” announced Stephen Colbert at the top of The Late Show Wednesday night.
The comedian dedicated his opening monologue to Trump’s speech in North Dakota, where the president pitched his tax-overhaul plan (a vague, four-point plan of a plan), and—for God knows what reason—compared the drought there to the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Harvey.
“I know you have a little bit of a drought,” said Trump. “They have the opposite. Believe me, you are better off.”
“My administration strongly rejects this offshoring model,” he added of economic outsourcing. “And we embrace this new model: the American model.”
Cue Colbert: “I’m not surprised. He’s known for embracing American models. Doesn’t even ask! Just grabs them.”
That, however, was far from the weirdest part of Trump’s speech. “By far the most awkward moment—and for Trump, that’s a pretty high bar—was when he brought up Ivanka,” said Colbert.
“Sometimes they’ll say, you know, he can’t be that bad a guy—look at Ivanka.”
“Now, come on up, honey,” he offered, suggestively lowering his pitch. “She’s so good. She wanted to make the trip. She said, ‘Dad, can I go with you?’ She actually said, ‘Daddy, can I go with you?’ I like that. ‘Daddy, can I go with you?’ I said, ‘Yes, you can.’”
“Not weird at all,” cracked Colbert. “All of Trump’s advisers call him ‘Daddy.’ Sean Spicer is actually the one who started it.”
The “Daddy” moment gave many pause given that Ivanka Trump is a 35-year-old adult woman (and senior White House aide) with a history of being sexually objectified by her father.