Colbert: Trump Is Losing Because ‘Voters Want You to Care Whether They Live or Die’ (Video)
”The only thing rising faster than the number of COVID cases are the odds that Joe Biden is going to be president,“ Colbert joked during his monologue Wednesday
Stephen Colbert opened a new episode of “The Late Show” Wednesday night with, as always, a politically charged monologue. this time out, he mocked President Donald Trump’s continued lack of a coronavirus strategy, his strange shout-out to Ghislaine Maxwell on Tuesday and the reason why Trump’s poll numbers are so abysmal as we get closer and closer to the election.
“Trump is talking about the coronavirus again because he’s desperate. Right now the only thing rising faster than the number of COVID cases are the odds that Joe Biden is going to be president. Because it turns out voters want you to care whether they live or die,” Colbert joked late in the monologue.
“Biden’s lead is largely thanks to the suburbs. Now according to exit polls in 2016, Trump won suburban voters by four points. But in the average of all polls, Biden’s ahead by more than 15 points with suburban voters. Trump needs to appeal to the suburbs. If this gets any worse, he’s gonna have to replace Mike Pence with a riding mower. Now to frighten suburbanites, Trump claims that they will face rising crime, and falling home values if a Democrat is in the White House. And he has not been subtle about it.”
“The Late Show” then fired up a clip of Trump declaring: “People have worked all their lives to get into a community, and now they’re gonna watch it go to hell.”
“Go to hell?” Colbert asked incredulously. “We’ve been boarded into our homes for the last four months afraid to touch our groceries or each other, only leaving to wait in long, socially distanced lines so someone could jab a cotton swab into our brains. This is hell. All we’re missing is the devil.”
A picture of Trump, featuring dark lighting and something in the background of the show making appear kinda like he has horns, appeared on screen, causing Colbert to yelp.
Colbert then mocked an ad that the Trump campaign has put in circulation, an ad that Colbert said was part of Trump’s “law-and-order fear campaign.” The ad shows an elderly couple in a dark house while news clips about Biden defunding the police play. We can hear Sean Hannity claim that Biden is “absolutely on board with defunding the police.”
And the kicker: Someone is trying to break into the house, but the couple can’t call the police because they were defunded.
“This is terrifying. Armed criminals are breaking into old people’s homes. But on the bright side, he is wearing a mask. So that rules out the governor of Georgia,” Colbert quipped. “Now, like a lot of scary movies, this ad is all make believe because as multiple news outlets, including Fox News, have fact checked, Joe Biden did not call for defunding the police. And as Joe Biden said in a recent op-ed: ‘I don’t support defunding the police.’ And you can tell the ad is a lie because they don’t have audio of Biden saying he’s going to defund the police. So instead they do this.”
“The Late Show” then pulled up Hannity’s portion of the ad.
“Joe Biden said he’s absolutely on board with defunding the police. Listen closely,” Hannity says, and then the ad follows that with a clip of Biden saying, “Yes. Absolutely.”
“They just lifted that line out of context from an interview where he was asked if the government should shift some funding to social service agencies,” Colbert clarified on behalf of the misleading ad. “Anyone could grab that audio to make Joe Biden agree with anything they say. Isn’t that right Joe?”
Then “The Late Show” played the clip of Biden declaring: “Yes. Absolutely.”
Colbert ended this discussion thread by noting that the fearmongering ad could have easily been made from clips from ‘Home Alone.’
You can watch all of the monologue from Wednesday night’s episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in the video embedded up at the top of this article, or right here on YouTube.
17 Music Stars Who Slammed Trump for Using Their Songs at Campaign Rallies (Photos)
Over the years, many musicians have publicly objected to having Donald Trump use their songs during his rallies and campaign events.
Axl Rose
After Guns N' Roses frontman learned that "Sweet Child O' Mine" was being played at the president's rallies, Rose fired off a series of tweets accusing Trump of using licensing loopholes to ignore his request to stop playing the band's music. "Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent," Rose tweeted on Nov. 4, 2018.
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Pharrell
On Oct. 27, 2018, the day after the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead, Trump played Pharrell's 2013 summer hit "Happy" at a rally in Indiana, according to reports. Pharell's attorney Howard King sent a cease and desist to Trump with a statement regarding the usage. "There was nothing 'happy' about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose," the letter read.
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Neil Young
If you go way back to when Trump first announced he would be running for president at the Trump Tower in 2015, you may remember that Neil Young took issue with Trump's use of "Rockin' in the Free World." "Donald Trump was not authorized to use 'Rockin' in the Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement," a spokesperson for the musician's Lookout Management said in a statement in 2015. Young reiterated his feelings on his official Facebook page: "Legally, he has the right to, however it goes against my wishes." In July 2020, he tweeted that he "was not OK" with Trump playing "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Like a Hurricane" at an event South Dakota's Mount Rushmore
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Prince's estate
According to Rolling Stone, Prince's estate had to issue a statement after various Trump rallies played "Purple Rain." "The Prince Estate has never given permission to President Trump or The White House to use Prince's songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately," Prince's half-brother Omarr Baker wrote on Twitter Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018.
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Adele
Trump didn't stop at the rock genre when choosing his campaign playlists. After it got around that his rallies included songs like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Skyfall," a spokesperson for singer Adele made clear she wanted no part of it. "Adele has not given permission for her music to be used for any political campaigning," her spokesman told The Guardian at the time.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones have tried to stop Trump from playing the band's music on several occasions, including after Trump accepted the bid to be the Republican Party's nominee in 2016 to the tune of "Start Me Up." "The Rolling Stones have never given permission to the Trump campaign to use their songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately," a Stones spokesperson said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
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R.E.M.
At a Trump rally in Washington D.C. Sept. 2015, R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World" played while Trump walked up the podium. Word of the band's song playing at the rally prompted the band's official Facebook page to release a statement: "While we do not authorize or condone the use of our music at this political event, and do ask that these candidates cease and desist from doing so, let us remember that there are things of greater importance at stake here. The media and the American voter should focus on the bigger picture, and not allow grandstanding politicians to distract us from the pressing issues of the day and of the current Presidential campaign."
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Elton John
According to CNN, Elton John was among the major names the Trump administration reached out to to perform at his inauguration. John's team declined. But even before then, John's team publicly denounced any use of his songs for Trump's benefit. "Elton's music has not been requested for use in any official capacity by Donald Trump. Any use of his music should not be seen as an endorsement of Donald Trump by Elton," John's publicist said, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.
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Steven Tyler
In 2015, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler's reps sent a demand to Trump's team to stop playing "Dream On" at his rallies, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Unlike other similar demands, Trump publicly announced he would stop. "Even though I have the legal right to use Steven Tyler's song, he asked me not to," Trump tweeted. "Have better one to take its place!"
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Queen
The anthemic "We Are the Champions" played while Trump walked up to the stage during the Republican National Convention in July 2016. Queen member Brian May released a personal statement regarding the usage: "Regardless of our views on Mr. Trump's platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool. Our music embodies our own dreams and beliefs, but it is for all who care to listen and enjoy."
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The O'Jays
O'Jays lead vocalist Eddie Levert spoke out in 2016 about the use of "Love Train" during Trump's presidential rallies. "I wish him the best, but I don't think he's the man to run our country. So when he started using 'Love Train,' I called him up and told them, 'Listen, man, I don't believe in what you're doing. I'm not with you. I don't want you to use my voice. I'm not condoning what you're doing," Levert told Billboard.
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Rihanna
Over the weekend of Nov. 3, 2018, Washington Post bureau chief Philip Rucker tweeted that Rihanna's 2007 hit "Don't Stop the Music" was playing during one of Trump's Tennessee rallies. Rihanna herself responded to the tweet, saying: "Not for much longer... me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up philip!"
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Village People
After Donald Trump had authorities clear peaceful protesters from across the White House in June 2020, Village People co-founder Bruce Willis asked that the president stop playing the disco group's hits like "Macho Man" and "Y.M.C.A." at campaign events. "Sorry, but I can no longer look the other way," he wrote.
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Tom Petty
The family of the late rocker objected to the Trump campaign playing "I Won't Back Down" during a June 20, 2020 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together," the family wrote, adding that it had sent the campaign a cease and desist request.
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Linkin Park
Linkin Park issued a cease and desist against President Trump after a two-minute campaign video was posted that included their song "In the End." “Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music,” the band tweeted July 18, 2020. The tweet with the embedded video was subsequently taken down and in its place now states, “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”
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John Fogerty
The Creedence Clearwater Revival founder issued a "cease and desist" order on Oct. 16 condemning the Trump campaign's use of his song "Fortunate Son." "He is using my words and my voice to portray a message that I do not endorse," Fogerty wrote in a tweet.
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Phil Collins
The British rocker sent the Trump campaign a cease-and-desist letter over use of his song "In the Air Tonight" during rallies, according to documents obtained by TMZ. Collins' lawyers followed up after it was used again during an October event: "That use was not only wholly unauthorized but, as various press articles have commented, particularly inappropriate since it was apparently intended as a satirical reference to Covid-19."
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From Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose to pop star Rihanna
Over the years, many musicians have publicly objected to having Donald Trump use their songs during his rallies and campaign events.
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