Too Late: Colbert Rips GOP Senator’s ‘Bulls**t’ Turn on RFK Jr.
Colbert wasn’t too impressed with Republicans’ performance at RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing.
Stephen Colbert mocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his explosive appearance on Capitol Hill Thursday, where he was grilled not only by Democrats but by fellow Republicans like Sen. John Barrasso.
“This is Wyoming Republican senator and physician John Barrasso, who this year voted to confirm Kennedy,” Colbert said in his Thursday monologue.
He showed a clip of Barrasso at the hearing, telling Kennedy, “I support vaccines. I’m a doctor. Vaccines work.”
Stepping up close to the camera, Colbert yelled at Barrasso, “Then why did you vote for the anti-vax guy?!”
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Colbert’s question drew cheers from the audience. As the applause died down, he told Barrasso, “Look, I’m no doctor, but your results are in and you just tested positive for bulls--t.”
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Colbert further emphasized just how “cuckoo” he thinks the guy Barrasso voted for has behaved in his position so far.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's 2026 health care agenda.
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
“Earlier this year, Kennedy fired 17 members of the vaccine advisory panel, and yesterday he said he plans to add seven new members to that panel.”
Colbert listed off some of Kennedy’s picks, all of whom were noted for their anti-vax positions.
“Why do all those descriptions start out promising and end up crazy?” Colbert asked.
He joked, “We’ll also be adding Dr. Bethany Smith, a pulmonologist who believes that asthma can be cured by human sacrifice.”
Colbert also showed a clip from the hearing of Sen. Elizabeth Warren asking Kennedy why he fired former CDC Director Susan Monarez in late August, less than one month into her tenure.
Kennedy explained that he’d fired Monarez because, “I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ and she said ‘No.’”
“OK, then why did you believe her?” Colbert joked. “She just told you she’s untrustworthy.”
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