Several Democrats opted out of attending President Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday night, but the ones who did go were encouraged to practice “silent defiance” by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. But, that approach simply made Stephen Colbert scoff.
As he often does, Colbert stayed up to watch the address and then went live with “The Late Show” shortly thereafter. To kick off his monologue, the CBS host joked that he took an edible before watching Trump’s speech, in an effort to follow Michelle Obama’s advice: “When they go low, we get high.” Colbert also admitted that he wished he were one of the more than 50 Democrats who sat the speech out.
“For Democrats who did attend, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged his members in the chamber to not make a scene, an approach he dubbed silent defiance,” Colbert explained. “Which I believe is a bold rebrand of ‘Doing jack squat.’”
“As Martin Luther King once said: ‘Shhhh,’” Colbert continued to joke.
Of course, not everyone followed Jeffries’ advice. During Trump’s speech, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) audibly disrupted, shouting that he “killed Americans.” The moment came as the president scolded Democrats for not standing up and cheering for him throughout his speech.
“Isn’t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself for not standing up,” Trump chastised.
He then went on to disparage the Somali community in Minnesota, and called for the end of sanctuary cities, prompting Omar to call out.
“You have killed Americans! You should be ashamed!” she bellowed.
You can watch Stephen Colbert’s full monologue in the video above.
