Stephen Colbert Goes Off on Trump for ‘Recycling His Garbage’ at 2020 Rally

“Last night, President Trump was in Orlando, Florida, to officially relaunch the campaign he has never stopped,” Stephen Colbert said in his Late Show monologue Wednesday night.

What followed was a point-by-point breakdown of just how familiar the president’s first 2020 rally was to anyone who spent time watching him in the lead-up to 2016. “For those of you who were hoping that now that he’s president his tone would change,” the host said, “last night was a swift kick in the old hopey-changey.”

In response to Trump saying Democrats “want us divided,” Colbert shot back, “Yes, Democrats want to divide Americans into tribes that can’t stand each other, says the man speaking to an angry mob all wearing the same hat.”

“Trump was clear about why he was so angry at the Democrats,” the host said, cutting to a clip of the president railing against the “witch hunt” investigation into his potential crimes and telling his crowd that “they are really going after you.”

Imitating Trump, Colbert added, “They’re really investigating you. And frankly, folks, I’m worried about you. Because there’s some bad stuff that you did that they haven’t even found out about yet.” He joked, “And it’s not just you, they’re also coming after ‘You Jr.’”

Finally, in response to Trump fearmongering about Democratic plans to “use the power of the law to punish their opponents,” Colbert disputed the premise before saying that “at least he clearly understands that using the power of your office to prosecute your political enemies is wrong.”

Cue the “Lock her up!” chants that Trump encouraged by saying, “We now have a great attorney general, let’s see what happens.”

“You know, for all his bad environmental policies, Trump is very committed to recycling his garbage,” Colbert concluded.