The host of CBS's "The Late Show," Stephen Colbert, expressed grief for America and condemned political violence after an assassination attempt on former President Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania. Colbert stated that the attempted murder of Trump was a "great tragedy" and that he felt "horror" upon hearing the news.
During Monday night's episode of CBS's "The Late Show," host Stephen Colbert deviated from his typical format to deliver a prerecorded monologue expressing his thoughts on the assassination attempt against former President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Colbert began by stating that "a great tragedy" almost occurred and described the "horror" he felt when he learned that an attendee at the rally had been killed.
"My immediate reaction when I saw this on Saturday was horror at what was unfolding, relief that Donald Trump had lived, and, frankly, grief for my beautiful country," Colbert said.
Host Stephen Colbert Expresses Grief for America After Trump Assassination Attempt
Colbert continued by describing his sadness at the incident and his reaction to the man killed by the gunfire. He then condemned the violence, stating, "I could just as easily start the show moaning on the floor, because how many times do we need to learn the lesson that violence has no role in our politics, that the entire objective of a democracy is to fight out our differences with — as the saying goes — a ballot, not a bullet."
Colbert also talked about his experience witnessing assassinations in America's past, saying, "I'm old enough that one of my earliest memories is sitting in a dark room with my sister watching my parents’ little black-and-white TV, and seeing Bobby Kennedy's coffin on that slow train from New York down to Washington."
Host Stephen Colbert Expresses Grief for America After Trump Assassination Attempt
Colbert emphasized that "that violence is with us still — from the shooting of a GOP baseball practice that seriously injured Steve Scalise, to the plot to kidnap and kill Governor Gretchen Whitmer, to the hammer attack that nearly killed Paul Pelosi, to the horrors of Jan. 6, to this most recent attack."
Towards the end of his remarks, Colbert mentioned how Americans are looking to lower the temperature of their political discourse following the attack, though he expressed uncertainty about whether that would happen. "In the wake of this attack on Saturday, many Americans on both sides of the aisle, from President Biden to Speaker Johnson, are calling on all this to change how we see each other, how we treat each other, how we talk to each other," he said, adding, "That may or may not happen."
Host Stephen Colbert Expresses Grief for America After Trump Assassination Attempt
Colbert made no comment on whether his program would dial back on the anti-Trump/anti-conservative bias that has dominated political jokes on his late night show.
Fellow late night comic Seth Meyers also weighed in on the tragedy during Monday night’s episode of NBC’s "Late Night." He condemned the violence, while also pushing gun control and insisting on the importance of protecting "democracy" – a narrative he and other liberal pundits have routinely used to criticize Trump.
"Political violence must be rejected in all its forms – it is both morally wrong and a poison to democracy. We must all condemn it and repudiate it and do everything in our power to stop it," he said.
Meyers continued by emphasizing the need to reduce the number of guns in society and to make them more difficult to obtain. "Schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, movie theaters, houses of worship and now political rallies have all been infected by this scourge of everyday violence. We cannot accept that there are too many guns. They’re too easy to get. We must work to change that," he said.
