Stephen Colbert drew from more than 20 years of his career to critique the Trump administration for attacking Iran over the weekend.
Specifically, to call out Donald Trump et al for not even bothering to build a convincing case for the attacks, leading Colbert to joke that at lease the previous Republican president, George W. Bush, made the effort to lie about the reasons for attacking Iraq.
“On Saturday, Trump surprised the world, announcing that the US launched strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. Now, were we facing an imminent threat? I don’t know. On one hand, Iran’s slogan Isn’t ‘life to America,’ but it’s hard to trust Donald Trump to be the one making these kinds of decisions. It kind of feels like we’re all in the back seat while the Uber driver goes on a road rage,” Colbert joked during his “The Late Show” monologue.
“Hey, hey, hey, buddy, we’re in the car too, okay, and if we’re dead, we can’t give you five stars. That’s my that is my hard rule for rating,” he added.
After running the audience through some of the bullet points of the conflict, including the incredibly weird public address Trump gave on the matter Saturday, Colbert noted that the Trump administration’s claims of an Iranian nuclear weapons program aren’t actually backed up by any U.S. intelligence.
“But if the intelligence wasn’t there, how did Trump decide it was time to attack Iran’s nuclear program? Well, according to a senior administration official, it was based on a feeling the President had,” Colbert explained
“And remember, this isn’t America’s first military industrial rodeo. I’ve been making jokes about whether or not we should be going to war in the Middle East, in the Middle East for 22 years. I did jokes from the Middle East for the service people who were sent into harm’s way based on no credible intelligence. But I will say this about the Bush administration,” Colbert continued. At least they respected us enough to lie to us.”
“Apparently, the Trump administration does not give a damn what we think. They’re not presenting any evidence. Just come on, guys, just at least scare us a little. I miss the days when Colin Powell went to the UN Security Council and passionately waved a tube of Country Time Lemonade powder,” Colbert joked as footage of the infamous moment played. “I mean just that much, just that much of the powder could have refreshed everyone in that building.”
“Trump should be out there telling us that Iran is hiding 50 tons of mustard gas on a turkey farm, or 50 tons of mustard Turkey on a gas farm, or human-animal hybrids or anything. Just sell it with sizzle. This is just lazy. It’s got low production values. Imagine if the next Transformers movie was just like, ‘You know what? I think we’re just going to stay cars in this one.’ Put some effort in,” he added.
Watch the whole monologue below:
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