Stephen Colbert Scolds Audience for Booing at News ‘Donald Trump Is Very Much Alive’
Comedian Stephen Colbert’s studio audience booed and jeered as the Late Show host reported Tuesday night that “Donald Trump is very much alive” after the president’s days-long absence resulted in a swirl of online conspiracy theories that he had died.
The gap fueled feverish and viral speculation across social media as users pushed clues that spun the notion of a White House cover-up about Trump’s health.
Trump put the rumors to rest on Monday when he declared on Truth Social that rumors of his passing were greatly exaggerated and downright “crazy,” noting that he had “NEVER FELT BETTER.”
In a presser one day later, the president addressed the rumors again: “Last week I did numerous news conferences and then I didn’t do any for two days and they said, ‘There must be something wrong with him.’ Biden wouldn’t do them for months.”
On Tuesday night’s Late Show, however, Colbert kicked off his monologue by retracing the bizarre story, which had taken place since he’d last hosted.
Colbert began: “When I came back into the office, I was shocked to learn that this weekend, the biggest story was frenzied social media rumors speculating whether Donald Trump had died.”
He continued: “For the record, Donald Trump is very much alive. OK?”
The studio audience then loudly booed, prompting the host to scold the audience: “No!”
“We like our presidents alive,” he added.
“Donald Trump is very much alive,” Colbert said. “And this whole crazy rumor started simply because Trump had zero events on his schedule Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.”
Watch above on CBS.
