Stephen Colbert on Maine shooting: ‘There’s no reason for this to be a partisan issue’
Late-night hosts dug into new leadership in the House, Trump’s civil fraud trial and the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Thursday evening. “It has been 24 hours since House Republicans reached into a bag of randos and pulled out a shiny new speaker of the House,” opened Stephen Colbert on the Late Show, as Republicans elected Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
“How many of you know a Mike Johnson?” Colbert asked his audience to a loud cheer. “Any of those Mike Johnsons would be a better speaker of the House.”
Johnson is known to be anti-gay, having once said: “Homosexual marriage is the dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic … ”
“… if you’re doin’ it right,” Colbert joked.
In other news, a new Senate report found that the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas failed to fully repay a $267,000 loan for a luxury RV he received from a “longtime friend”.
“It was a loan that I would never have to pay,” Colbert sang. “So, shocking revelations of secret payments to a supreme court justice who coincidentally happens to be the most pro-gun justice in our lifetimes.”
Which brought Colbert to his final topic of the evening, the mass shooting that killed at least 18 people at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine. The suspected shooter, an army reservist and firearms instructor, had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks over this past summer, yet was still able to purchase guns.
“Now, we know the arguments,” said Colbert. “Some people are going to say this is a mental health issue. Others are going to say it’s a gun issue. But there’s no reason it can’t be both. For instance some people are going to look at this tragedy and say we don’t have enough guns in America. That alone proves that some of us are mentally ill.
“There’s no reason for this to be a partisan issue. Humans are dying. This is a human issue,” he added.
Johnson addressed the carnage on his first day as speaker with the usual Republican line of hope and prayers. “Why would you leave it there?” Colbert fumed. “Is that what you think produces hope? Just leaving it there and walking away from the problem? We’re already capable of hope and prayer ourselves. You’re capable of governing, theoretically. And I’m sorry if that sounds like too hard of a job for you.
“You know who’s really got a hard job now? The people in Lewiston, Maine. That is hard.”