Stephen Colbert and the rest of late night on Bernie Sanders’ announcement

See how late night reacted to Senator Bernie Sanders announcing his 2020 campaign for president.

Bernie is back. The Vermont senator announced that he is running for president in 2020, joining an already crowd of Democratic candidates. Bernie Sanders’ announcement was celebrated by his supporters and it was also music to the ears of late night hosts.

Sanders was a popular source of comedy during his 2016 campaign. Saturday Night Live brought in Larry David for a number of sketches. The nightly shows had plenty of jokes lined up on everything from Sanders’ age to his hair to his political views.

So when the news hit yesterday that Sanders would be trying again in 2020, you knew that late night would be ready once again. Stephen Colbert had already asked the senator about running again so there has been plenty of time to prepare for Sanders joining the race.

Colbert has become the late night leader when it comes to politics. It has certainly helped him in the ratings. So it is only fitting that we start of with his reaction to Bernie Sanders in 2020:

At the very least Colbert can bring back his Sanders impression. It’s slightly better than his Donald Trump which he continues to use almost every night on The Late Show. 

Of course Colbert hit on Bernie Sanders’ age. It was a big talking point in 2016 so it will obviously be a point of discussion in the 2020 race. But Colbert’s take on the announcement focused just as much on the Vermont angle of Sanders. Not too often do we hear “kiss my Vermont cheeseballs” on television.

Another show that really hammered home the point about Sanders’ age was The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Falllon. You knew that Fallon wouldn’t be breaking down the political aspects of Sanders joining the race. That’s not his strength. Instead, he did what he does best and turned it into a sketch:

No other late night host goes into hair and makeup for a bit. But Fallon has been known to draw on his Saturday Night Live experience. We’ve seen this Sanders impression  before and the host has done the same for President Donald Trump.

These aren’t exactly the most original or clever old-age jokes but you have to appreciate the rapid fire punchlines. Very little time is wasted on anything that isn’t a joke, proving that above all else Fallon just wants to have fun with whatever he’s doing. We’ll see his Bernie Sanders again before long.

A nice combination of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon’s approaches could be found on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Yes, he made a point to joke about old man Bernie Sanders but he also explored what Sanders’ campaign means for the Democratic Party.

Have you seen Trevor Noah more excited about a political candidate? And it’s not even for what Sanders can do for the country. Noah is just thrilled to think about what Bernie can do for The Daily Show in terms of material.

If you watch the rest of the clip, you can understand why. The other Democratic candidates don’t have the same personality of Sanders. Whereas Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand are afraid of a misstep, Sanders has no problem being himself and saying what’s on his mind.

Closing out the coverage was Late Night with Seth Meyers. He only dedicated a minute or so of his monologue to the Sanders announcement and hit on some of the same ideas as his late night colleagues.

Other hosts mentioned how old Sanders would be at his inauguration but only Meyers considered what Sanders would be like after four years in office. If President Trump needs “executive time” to keep going, who knows what it would take for Bernie Sanders to stay sharp. If you had to guess the one late night host who would compare Sanders to a Lord of the Rings character, Stephen Colbert would be the pick. But its Meyers who seems worried about old Bernie turning into Gollum.

There will probably be even more Democrats joining the 2020 race and maybe even a Republican challenger to Donald Trump. In the end, it just means more material for late night. Even if nobody else enters the race, Bernie Sanders is sure to be the source of more than a few laughs. Last Night On will have it all covered.