Late night reacts to Trump’s defense of his racist tweets

President Donald Trump’s defense of his tweets got a strong reaction from late night hosts like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Trevor Noah.

A number of yesterday’s headlines focused on President Donald Trump’ “doubling down” on his tweets accusing several congresswomen of being anti-American and suggesting they go back from where they came. Trump’s response to those calling him racist caught the country’s attention including late night hosts.

Not surprisingly, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had the best takedown of the president on Monday in response to the initial tweets. It was a borderline angry response from Stephen Colbert and reflected how many people felt about the tweets attacking Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar.

So when Trump doubled down on his comments, fans knew that Colbert and the rest of late night would have a response once again. The good thing about having so many late night shows is the different voices and sense of humor that each host brings every night. That was on display Tuesday night following the president’s claim that he didn’t have “a racist bone” in his body.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

In typical fashion, Colbert treated his monologue like a debate with Trump. He read Trump’s tweets claiming he wasn’t a racist and then offered evidence to support his opposing argument. Colbert has become the late night host most dedicated to reminding viewers of everything Trump has said or done, not just the most recent controversy.

Colbert argues that racism is Trump’s brand and recalls every notable instance to support that claim. He then questions the president’s strategy of “The Squad” despite the four representatives clearly not being afraid of challenging Trump.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jimmy Kimmel Live! also had some fun with the president’s tweets just without Kimmel doing an impression like Colbert. The two hosts did have a similar joke about Trump having any bones, let alone a racist one. But for Kimmel, it is Trump’s racist brain and mouth that are the problem. His bone spur X-ray gag may have taken an extra second to hit the audience but it was still a clever joke.

Kimmel then went after one of his favorite targets in Kellyanne Conway. Since the beginning of this administration, Conway has often found herself mocked by late night. It doesn’t help when her husband is constantly feuding with President Trump and calling him out on everything.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Nobody loves President Trump’s tweets more than The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Yes, every late night show cites the Twitter feed for material. But only The Daily Show has offered ideas on how to improve it and turned it in to a traveling museum.

Trevor Noah and the rest of the Daily Show writers were probably excited to see Trump turned to his trusty Twitter account to defend himself. The “not a racist bone in my body” tweet can now be added to the Twitter library.

Noah follows Colbert and Kimmel by making the joke about Trump having no bones at all. The joke is a little obvious but when the president claims he is the healthiest man to ever hold the office, these kind of punchlines have to be said.

Noah may be the best in late night when it comes to stepping back and taking a big picture look at Trump’s antics while still being funny. He makes an excellent point about the president never suggesting Bernie Sanders leave the country or why working to make the country better does not equate to hating the country. Noah does the same when pushing back against Republicans defending their leader as “frustrated” instead of racist.

This latest controversy from President Donald Trump seems a little different than others in that it isn’t going away as quickly. The president isn’t helping his cause by doubling down, which only brings more questions, controversy, and jokes from late night.