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Late-night host Colbert gives Trump Nazi salute | Late-night host Colbert gives Trump Nazi salute |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Comedian Stephen Colbert, host of a late-night show on CBS, flashed a Nazi salute - twice - during a rant about US President Donald Trump. | Comedian Stephen Colbert, host of a late-night show on CBS, flashed a Nazi salute - twice - during a rant about US President Donald Trump. |
Returning to The Late Show after a two-week vacation, Colbert lashed out at Trump and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who resigned in mid-August. | Returning to The Late Show after a two-week vacation, Colbert lashed out at Trump and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who resigned in mid-August. |
Citing Bannon’s comment that Trump was taking things “up to a higher level” with comments about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in early August, Colbert went full Hitler. | Citing Bannon’s comment that Trump was taking things “up to a higher level” with comments about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in early August, Colbert went full Hitler. |
“Yeah, he’s definitely taking it to a higher level. I’d say his support is about up there. Right around here,” Colbert said, raising his arm in a Nazi salute. “Or over here,” he added, doing it again. “Somewhere up there.” | “Yeah, he’s definitely taking it to a higher level. I’d say his support is about up there. Right around here,” Colbert said, raising his arm in a Nazi salute. “Or over here,” he added, doing it again. “Somewhere up there.” |
While not the first celebrity to accuse Trump of being Hitler incarnate, Colbert was the first to give a Nazi salute on national television. | While not the first celebrity to accuse Trump of being Hitler incarnate, Colbert was the first to give a Nazi salute on national television. |
This prompted some conservative observers to wonder if CBS will apply the same standard as CNN did, when it fired pro-Trump commentator Jeffrey Lord in early August. Lord had tweeted “Sieg Heil!” – a Nazi slogan usually chanted with the salute – at a liberal critic. While Lord said it was done as mockery, CNN did not care. | |
“Nazi salutes are indefensible,” a CNN spokesperson told the network’s media writer Brian Stelter at the time. | “Nazi salutes are indefensible,” a CNN spokesperson told the network’s media writer Brian Stelter at the time. |
Others pointed out that the odds of Colbert getting fired are small, because what matters to the mainstream media is not the salute itself, but who does it. | Others pointed out that the odds of Colbert getting fired are small, because what matters to the mainstream media is not the salute itself, but who does it. |
This is not the first time Colbert has pushed the envelope of outrage in his coverage of Trump. In a tirade in May, he employed homophobic slurs to describe the relationship between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite a torrent of complaints, the federal watchdog declined to penalize CBS. | This is not the first time Colbert has pushed the envelope of outrage in his coverage of Trump. In a tirade in May, he employed homophobic slurs to describe the relationship between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite a torrent of complaints, the federal watchdog declined to penalize CBS. |
During his Thursday night rant, Colbert also claimed that during his visit to Texas, Trump “didn’t meet a single storm victim, see an inch of rain or get near a flooded street.” | During his Thursday night rant, Colbert also claimed that during his visit to Texas, Trump “didn’t meet a single storm victim, see an inch of rain or get near a flooded street.” |
“He’s been closer to a flood in a Russian hotel room,” the CBS host added, referring to the infamous – and debunked – Steele dossier published by BuzzFeed earlier this year. | |
Colbert has hosted the late-night comedy show since September 2015, replacing the long-time host David Letterman. He previously hosted his own show, The Colbert Report, from 2005 to 2014 on Comedy Central – in character as an over-the-top conservative pundit. |
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