Late Night Round Up: Colbert and Meyers Mock Trump’s Bible Stunt, Kimmel Confronts His White Privilege

Late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers mocked President Donald Trump’s Bible stunt and went after him for his treatment of peaceful protesters, while Jimmy Kimmel confronted his own white privilege, stating that he finally understands the concept he once rejected.

Colbert quickly went after Trump for tearing gassing peaceful protesters in order to get a photo in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, which had been set on fire by rioters on Sunday, while holding a bible.

“Not only is that a horrific abuse of the office of the presidency and our military — the tear gas is completely unnecessary,” Colbert joked. “When people see Trump walking toward them, they naturally cry and vomit.”

The host then pointed out that Trump had promised to be an ally of peaceful protesters during a speech in the Rose Garden, which he gave right before police forcibly drove them off for a photo opportunity.

“Finally, Trump revealed his true reason for the mission: a photo op with his all-white advisers. Now, reportedly, the reason Trump wanted this meaningless photo — because ‘he was upset by coverage of the fact that he had been rushed to the underground bunker on Friday night’” he said. “Not sure if he thought that one through: ‘Oh, they think I’m a coward, do they? I’ll show them. Quick, go assault a bunch of peaceful protesters. Daddy’s gotta frown in front of a church and hold a Bible like a fly swatter.’”

The late-night host also pointed out the irony of threatening to deploy the U.S. military to patrol those protesting killings at the hands of police officers

“So, in response to protests about police brutality, you’re threatening to send in the army to crush them,” Colbert said. “That’s like forgetting your child’s birthday and apologizing by sending in the army to crush them.”

Meyer’s also mocked the president for his picture in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church and joked that it looked like he was trying to sell the bible on QVC.

“You’re not going to get an invitation in the mail asking you to RSVP to the #DemocracyIsOverParty,” he added. “There’s no on-off switch. It turns out, democracy is on a dimmer. This is what it looks like.”

“Military police in your country attacked peaceful protesters, not looters, to stop them from exercising their First Amendment rights,” Meyers added. “Trump couldn’t have done more damage to the Constitution last night if he’d pulled a Sinead O’Connor and ripped it up on live television and then ate the pieces.”

The late night host was clearly horrified by recent events by the end of his “A Closer Look” segment and asked his viewers to speak up against the president and his actions.

“We can’t just wait until November and hope to vote Trump out,” he said. “We need to stand up to him now, to stop the country’s descent into authoritarianism before it’s too late.”

Kimmel began his monologue by similarly ripping Trump for cracking down on peaceful protesters so he could get a picture of a Bible, noting that members of the church reprimanded his actions.

“The bishop of the St. John’s diocese said she was ‘outraged,'” Kimmel noted. “She said: ‘Let me be clear: The president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches of my diocese without permission as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.’ Which is a pretty sick burn for a bishop.”

The host then tackled his own white privilege and admitted that it was once a concept he struggled to accept. Kimmel began by noting that he understands it’s his turn to listen but pointed out that he’s the only one in the room and the host of his own talk show

“People who are white, we don’t have to deal with negative assumptions being made about us based on the color of our skin,” he said. “It rarely happens, if ever. Whereas black people experience that every day. And please don’t tell me you don’t ever make assumptions about people based on the color of their skin, because I don’t believe it. We all do. I know I have. I’m embarrassed to say it, but I have.”

The host asked his viewers to imagine getting handcuffed, pulled over, or frisked simply because of their race, noting that this would undoubtedly anger them and could understandably lead to violent protests. “How do you swallow that and move on with your day? I don’t know about you, but that would make me furious,” he added.

Kimmel then quoted a definition he saw online, putting the concept in simple terms:

“‘White privilege doesn’t mean your life hasn’t been hard. It just means the color of your skin isn’t one of the things that makes it harder.’ Wherever you stand, I don’t see how you can argue with that.”

Watch above, via Youtube.

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