Late-night host Stephen Colbert broke down crying on Thursday in response to President Trump’s press conference at the White House saying he will not concede until every legal vote is counted, claiming there has been widespread voter fraud.
During the presser, Trump said his campaign would be filing lawsuits in the states that have yet to be called as Democratic nominee Joe Biden gains leads in states like Pennsylvania.
"For weeks, we’ve been talking about how there’d be a red mirage, then how the outstanding Biden mail-in ballots would maybe let Joe catch up. And that Trump would then come out probably Thursday around the evening news and pretend that he won and accuse everyone of cheating. The guy doesn’t have another gear. Get a new act!" Colbert said.
After playing a clip of Trump from 2016, Colbert took a long pause before speaking again.
"So, we all knew he would do this. What I did not know is how much it would hurt. 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. This is heartbreaking for the same reason that I didn’t want him to get COVID, certainly why I wanted him to survive, because he is the president of the United States. That office means something and that office should have some shred of decency," he said.
"Now, we always knew he would leave a stain there— and not just from his butt bronzer— because everything he did is now presidential behavior. Including this. Unless— unless!— every single person rejects what he just did. And that means, for all the predictable behavior of the last few days and the last four years, right now something unpredictable needs to happen: Republicans have to speak up — all of them. Because for evil to succeed, all that is necessary is for good men to do nothing. So say something right now, Republicans. Not later, not after you’ve stuck your finger up in the wind or wherever you want to put it. Right now, it’s in your best interest," Colbert continued.
Colbert said Republicans need to come out and say "that Donald Trump is a fascist" because it is “obvious to so many of us."