Sounding, at first, a little like Dante from Clerks, Stephen Colbert opened Friday night’s monologue reminding us he wasn’t even supposed to be there. (The show rarely tapes on Friday.) But the Late Show host rose to the challenge of remaining funny and maintaining opposition to Donald Trump without seeming indecent after news broke of the president testing positive for coronavirus.
His 12-minute monologue does get some zings in, but only after a while. He opened with a wink-free declaration that “this is a serious moment for our nation, and we all wish the President and the First Lady of the United States a speedy and a full recovery.” He then pivoted to soft targets, like Texas politician and former physician to the president Ronny Jackson for his weird tweet about “comorbities” and Trump being “asymptotic.”
Colbert slowly allowed himself to get a little angry over images of Trump in the presence of servicemen and operators of Marine One. With a lighter-than-usual touch, Colbert began outlining how Trump’s negligence continues to put innocent people in harm’s way.
Considering just how much news erupted on Friday, Colbert’s monologue was an important reminder of some key facts. One such item is that Trump’s key aide Hope Hicks was feeling ill on Wednesday, and Trump knew of her diagnosis by Thursday morning, but no one thought to alert people who had been in her presence. Indeed, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany, who had been in contact with Hicks, led her daily press conference, maskless, without any knowledge of her potential exposure.
Colbert also reminded that Trump attended his Bedminster, New Jersey fundraiser aware of his exposure to Hicks. Many people may become sick, but at least we got to hear the late night host’s Thurston Howell III impression.
He wrapped it up (after mentioning the 30,500 percent spike in searches for the word “schadenfreude”) by once again wishing the president well, mostly because it is important that the most powerful man on the planet be in his best possible condition, for all of our sakes.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
— Elle Fanning Is Our October Cover Star: Long May She Reign
— Kate Winslet, Unfiltered: “Because Life Is F–king Short”
— Emmys 2020: Schitt’s Creek Makes Emmy History With Complete Sweep
— Charlie Kaufman’s Confounding I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Explained
— Ta-Nehisi Coates Guest-Edits “The Great Fire,” a Special Issue
— Revisiting One of Princess Diana’s Most Iconic Dresses
— The Nest Is One of the Best Films of the Year
— From the Archive: Too Hepburn for Hollywood
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.