Stephen Colbert’s live Showtime election special took on a very somber tone when it became evident that Donald Trump was going to be named the President elect of the United States.
Before he signed off on Tuesday night, Colbert delivered an off the cuff speech in which he tried to make those feeling lost and depressed just a little bit better.
“I think we can agree that this has been an absolutely exhausting, bruising election for everyone,” Colbert said. “And it has come to an ending I did not imagine. We all now feel the way Rudy Giuliani looks.”
Colbert then said that the rest of the world is going to look at our country and ask if we have lost our minds. “And the answer is evidently, ‘Back off, buddy. We’ve got 300 million guns and we’re kind of stressed right now,’” he said.
“How did our politics get so poisonous?” he mused. “I think it’s because we overdosed, especially this year. We drank too much of the poison. You take a little bit of it so you can hate the other side and it tastes kind of good and you like how it feels. And there’s a gentle high to the condemnation.”
He then thoughtfully reminisced about a time when we didn’t allow politics to consume our lives, and called on Americans to share the love today.
“Above all, we, as a nation, should never, ever have another election like this one. Do you agree?” he said to a huge cheer from the audience. “Now, please. Get out there. Kiss a Democrat. Go hug a Republican. Give a libertarian a reach around.”
Watch the video above.