‘Damn Right!’: Colbert Shocked Republican Actually Stood Up to Trump
“The Late Show” host warned GOP Senator Mike Lee that he was about to “ruin” his political career by agreeing with him.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has a big new fan in Stephen Colbert. The Late Show host spent the bulk of his monologue Thursday night praising the Republican for standing up to President Donald Trump after what Lee described as an “insulting” briefing from administration officials on the intelligence that led to the killing of Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani.
Lee told reporters on Wednesday that Congress was warned that even debating the “appropriateness of further military intervention against Iran” would “embolden” the enemy. “Of course, that makes sense,” Colbert said. “Iran wants nothing more than forcing the ‘Great Satan’ to have a functioning democracy.”
And in response to Lee’s assertion that the briefing was “demeaning to the Constitution,” Colbert exclaimed, “Damn right, Mike! You may be a Republican, but yes! Oh hell yes!”
“Senator, I’m going to ruin your political career right now by agreeing with you,” the host continued. “He’s absolutely right, this is insulting. This is insulting, not just to Congress, but to the American people. Has everyone already forgotten what happens when we don’t ask for concrete evidence justifying a military attack against a Middle Eastern country whose name begins with ‘Ira-’?”
While George W. Bush “respected us enough to put some effort into his lies” in 2003, Colbert said Trump isn’t even trying. And on top of that, Trump “doesn’t even have a Colin Powell that we trust—they don’t have someone with a reputation worth flushing down the toilet.”
“I say, before we give the president the authority to attack another Middle Eastern country, we must demand better lies!” Colbert concluded. “We deserve better lies. This is America, home of the whopper! Our taxes pay for all these lies. Put some effort into it! Dazzle and deceive us! Sell it with some sizzle. Scare the shit out of us! But just try.”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.