Late-night host Stephen Colbert tore into President Trump on Thursday for distancing himself from the “send her back” chant that erupted during one of his rallies this week.
The comedian and host of the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS spent the entirety of his opening monologue ripping on Mr. Trump’s rally the previous evening in Greenville, North Carolina, where the president’s speech was briefly interrupted by supporters shouting “send her back” about Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and former Somali refugee who is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
“I never thought I’d say this, but these rallies where a nationalist leader whips people up into a racist frenzy might have a dark side,” Mr. Colbert said.
Mr. Trump stopped speaking for more than 10 seconds during Wednesday’s rally when the “send her back” chant erupted while he was criticizing the foreign-born congresswoman.
Speaking to reporters the following day, Mr. Trump said he “was not happy” with the chant.
Mere days since Mr. Trump said on Twitter that Ms. Omar and other Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” Mr. Colbert accused the president of effectively betraying his supporters by subsequently trying to distance himself from the chant.
“I disagree with it,” Mr. Trump said. “But, again, I didn’t say that. They did.”
“Wow, Trump supporters, did you see him throw you under the bus?” Mr. Colbert asked. “Probably not, since you have a tire on your face right now.”
“You created that crowd,” Mr. Colbert continued. “You’re like Dr. Frankenstein saying, ’I didn’t strangle those villagers, that was my monster! All I did was sew together some dead bodies, zap it with lightning, deny it love, set it loose and mention that I knew some people who could use a good strangling!’ “
• Corrected from earlier to fix typo in quote in third paragraph.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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