Stephen Colbert delivered a withering one-two takedown of President Donald Trump, mocking his recent Air Force One stumble and his decision to “deploy troops against our fellow Americans.”
Opening his Late Show monologue Monday, the host took aim at Trump’s weekend tumble up the stairs of his presidential jet, tying the near-miss to the real-world chaos unfolding in Los Angeles.
“What’s going on in L.A. reminds us that as citizens, it is crucial to speak out against Trump’s fascist impulses, his rampant corruption, and his egregious violations of our norms and laws,” he said, to huge applause from the crowd.
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He then aimed at Trump’s slippery ascent, which was captured by C-Span, as the president was en route to Camp David on Sunday.
Colbert said: “But sometimes it’s just as important to say, ‘Haha. Old man fall down.’ Because this weekend, when he was trying to walk up the steps to Air Force One, he went all stumbly-wumbly. Woop! Strongman go boom!”
Colbert then rolled off four nicknames for clumsy Trump, all of which were related to well-known dictators.
“He’s a real Benito Whoops-olini. Adolf Tripsler. OK, I’m done. I’m done. I’m done. That’s enough of that. Josef Fallin’? Kim Jong Oops?”
He then returned to the scenes in L.A., where Trump has so far mobilized about 4,000 National Guards and 700 active-duty Marines to quell protests.
“Of course, with Trump’s shock troops deployed against our fellow Americans, we can’t focus on trivial things like that,” he demurred.
“But look at his dumb face! You can tell it was a serious fall, because it deployed his neck bag.
“And if you zoom in, it’s a map of the greater Los Angeles area! There’s the 405 right there! Wake up, people! It was all a plan!”
A graphic appeared on the screen with a red arrow pointing at a fold in the skin on the president’s neck.
Trump’s position as he tried to maintain balance after his slip created a fold in the skin, which Colbert said resembled Interstate 405.
Colbert has frequently mocked Trump’s appearance, especially his distinctive hairstyle and orange-tinted tan, during his late-night monologues.
In 2017, Colbert quipped “Orange Lives Matter” in a riff about Trump’s skin tone, which he has also compared to “the color of an overcooked Cheeto.”
