Stephen Colbert explains how Trump botched the pandemic response

Stephen Colbert pushed back on President Donald Trump’s goal on when to reopen the country.

President Donald Trump’s eagerness to reopen the country shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic is understandable. But it is the president’s method of reaching that goal that worries Stephen Colbert.

Late night’s coverage of the novel coronavirus pandemic has been predictable. Hosts like Colbert, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver have blasted the White House for its response and have repeatedly bashed President Trump for his press briefings.

Yet criticism from comedians is nothing new for President Trump and certainly won’t dissuade him from his efforts to reopen the economy as soon as possible. In fact, push back from medical experts doesn’t even seem like enough, nevermind from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

But that won’t stop the show from voicing its opinion on how President Trump has botched the pandemic response. On Thursday night, Colbert made his case while questioning why the White House is pushing testing off to the states’ plates:

Colbert appears surprised, alarmed, and angry about President Trump ending federal support for novel coronavirus testing sites. It is part of the White House plan to shift responsibility to the states rather than the federal government. But throughout the pandemic, Colbert and others have been calling from consistent, strong leadership from that very branch of the government.

President Trump’s decision is based on helping his re-election chances and not protecting public health, says Colbert. And while he shouldn’t be surprised, the Late Show host seems genuinely appalled that a pandemic wasn’t enough for Donald Trump to put the interests of others ahead of his own.

Colbert has been trying to limit his discussions of President Trump during the at-home editions of The Late Show. Instead, the host has been trying to keep audiences entertained with a little less negativity. But clearly the latest decision from the White House couldn’t be ignored and once again Colbert had to go after The Late Show‘s enemy number one.

Perhaps next week, Stephen Colbert will get back to a more optimistic monologue. A lot of that will depend on what news comes from the White House. Stay tuned. For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.