Stephen Colbert chokes up as he criticises Trump over ‘devastating’ false election claims
‘Donald Trump is a fascist and when it comes to democracy versus fascism, you need to choose: Donald Trump or the American people,’ Colbert said
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Your support makes all the difference.Stephen Colbert choked up as he criticised Donald Trump for repeating false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been fraudulent.
Addressing the US people on Thursday (5 November) night, Trump shared unfounded conspiracy theories that the election was “rigged” as election forecasters predicted that Joe Biden is likely to win the Electoral College.
In response, Colbert appeared on The Late Show on Thursday dressed all in black “for a funeral” as he accused the president of trying to “poison American democracy”.
Visibly upset, Colbert said that during his 15 minute rant – which was cut off short by TV networks including MSNBC – Trump had “tried really hard to kill something”, adding: “If you did not know that Joe Biden was getting close to 270 [electoral votes], Donald Trump just provided all the proof you will ever need.
“So we all knew he would do this,” Colbert said, taking a pause to compose himself before continuing: “What I didn’t know is that it would hurt so much. I didn’t expect this to break my heart. For him to cast a dark shadow on our most sacred right from the briefing room in the White House, our house. Not his. That is devastating.”
Colbert then called on Republicans to “speak up” and condemn Trump for his actions in order to ensure the presidency “means something” and has “some shred of decency” in the future.
“Donald Trump is a fascist and when it comes to democracy versus fascism, I'm sorry there are not fine people on both sides so you need to choose: Donald Trump or the American people,” he said.
“This is the time to get off the Trump train because he told you where the train is going and it's not a passenger train and he'll load you on it someday too.”
Colbert was widely praised for his impassioned speech, with Marvel star Mark Ruffalo tweeting: “Damn. I never thought I would see Colbert break down. Wow. I get it.”
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