Watch Stephen Colbert Talk ‘Darkest’ U.S. Election, Chat With ‘Melania Trump’
‘Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote – it’s trying to correct for that now,” says Colbert
Stephen Colbert’s Election Day Showtime Special began with a chill. “The country is on the edge ”“ of the country so it can walk into Canada,” the host said right off the bat, referencing the close presidential race unfolding in real-time with the aptly titled live program Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going To Clean Up This Sh*t?
The host began by discussing what he knew about each state at that point. He brought up Vermont, whose electoral votes went to Hillary Clinton, saying that her requisite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor will most likely be “Deleted Creamail.” For Donald Trump, Colbert brought up Wyoming, which went red. “Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote,” said Colbert. “So it must be trying to correct for that now.”
Despite the close race, Colbert tried to keep things light. Fake Melania Trump made a brief appearance, stealing lines from Gloria Gaynor, Billy Joel and the Taco Bell chihuahua while thanking the Trump campaign’s biggest inspiration, Vladimir Putin. Between bits, Elle King sang her hit “Exes and Oh’s” with Jon Batiste and his Stay Human band.
Colbert’s first guests were political analysts and executives of Showtime’s political series The Circus, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. While sipping on cocktails and cheers-ing to democracy, Halperin said he was on the trail with Donald Trump when the FBI announced it was going to investigate newly discovered emails connected to Clinton. Halperin said that incident likely gave Trump a surge in the race, adding that in all of the U.S. elections he’s covered since 1988, this one has been “the darkest.”
