Stephen Colbert targeted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt after she claimed President Donald Trump’s strike on Iran stemmed from “a feeling based on a fact.”
The comedian weighed in on the now-viral comment during Wednesday’s monologue for “The Late Show,” where Colbert roasted Trump and his administration for struggling to lock in language surrounding the conflict in Iran. Colbert was particularly tickled after Leavitt told White House reporters, “This decision to launch this operation was based on a cumulative effect of various direct threats that Iran posed to the United States of America … And the president’s feeling based on fact that Iran does pose an imminent and direct threat to the United States of America. “
“A feeling based on a fact. Okay,” Colbert chimed in. “Incidentally, ‘I’ve Got a Feeling Based on a Fact’ is the Black Eyed Peas’ worst song. It’s right up there with, ‘Let’s Get It Started — Once We Establish Where the Fire Exits Are.”
Additionally, Colbert called out Trump for continuing to call the conflict in Iran “a war,” despite never securing Congressional approval before striking the nation.
“The White House sent out a list of talking points to all the congressional Republicans telling them, in no uncertain terms, that if a reporter asks, ‘Can you promise the American people this will not be a long drawn out war?’ The answer to give is, ‘These are targeted major combat operations,’” Colbert said. “So it’s worse than a war. It’s a war that got a thesaurus for Christmas.”
Yet, as Colbert highlighted, Trump has not followed his own instruction, repeatedly calling the Iran situation a war.
To which Colbert replied: “Oh no. Oh damn it. You know you’re not supposed to say it, but that just puts the word in your brain. It’s like when your boss has a huge pimple on his nose and you’re like, ‘Don’t talk about the pimple.’ But as soon as he walks in, you go, ‘Hi, Mr. Pimple.’”
Watch Colbert’s full monologue above.
Watch “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET only on CBS.
