Comedian Stephen Colbert says President Donald Trump is guilty of “the greatest sin a public official could commit” — heresy.
The Hollywood Reporter recently interviewed the host of CBS’s “The Late Show” to talk about his ninth consecutive week on top of his competitors in the ratings, how Mr. Trump’s election affected the show, and his life as a New Yorker.
“Do you owe Donald Trump a thank-you note [for the ratings bounce]?” writer Marisa Guthrie asked the comedian for a piece published Thursday.
“No. I would trade good ratings for a better president. How about that?” Mr. Colbert replied. “The interesting thing is that when we were prepping all that time, we weren’t waiting for Donald Trump. We were waiting for something that everybody cared about. Do you know what I mean? Donald Trump is epoch-making; he changes everything. And so we were ready for something that galvanized people’s attention and changed their priorities. The thank-you note is to my staff for being ready — that’s the thank-you note.”
The comedian said that although he tries not to bring anger onto the stage, Mr. Trump’s decision to address former President Obama’s place of birth left him incensed.
“Sometimes there is no way to fully extricate it from the material because it is the marble of the statue itself. You’re not drawing a picture of the anger — the anger is the thing. So Trump [finally admitting] back during the campaign that Barack Obama was born in the U.S., period, that made me super angry. Like, ’Come on, now you’re really trying to make us feel like we’re crazy. You’re gaslighting us.’ It’s not just a—covering — that’s truly malicious behavior,” Mr. Colbert said.
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“I’m a Catholic, and heresy is the worst sin because not only are you sinning, you’re recruiting people into your sin. By denying reality — by saying that there is not an objective reality and that facts don’t matter — you are actually engaging in heresy against sanity. And that’s the greatest sin a public official could commit.”
Mr. Colbert then said that if he could ask the commander in chief one question it would be the following: “What do you mean by ’great again’? Define ’great.’ “
“The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 EST on CBS.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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