Stephen Colbert reacts to Trump’s superhuman cognitive powers

Stephen Colbert mocked President Donald Trump for bragging about a cognitive test

It wasn’t that long ago that President Donald Trump plugging Goya beans seemed like the strangest moment of his presidency. But now the boasting and self-congratulation after passing a relatively simple cognitive test may be in the lead. Stephen Colbert shared his reaction on Thursday night’s The Late Show.

President Trump gave an interview to Fox News in which he defended himself against suggestions he was mentally unfit for office. In doing so, he challenged former Vice President Joe Biden to take the same cognitive test that President Trump “aced” in his books.

The clip of President Trump attempting to describe the difficulty of the test went viral and led to more ridicule. The president suggested that repeating five random words–such as person, woman, man, camera, TV–is not something the average brain could accomplish.

Many were quick to point out that passing the test only means an individual is unlikely to have a cognitive impairment. It is not an assessment of intelligence or meant to be all that challenging. But as Stephen Colbert explained, you wouldn’t know that by listening to President Trump.

Stephen Colbert has spent the week discussing President Trump’s mental fitness

Stephen Colbert’s joke that “person, man, woman, camera, TV” could be the nuclear launch code is one of late night’s best on this particular topic. It is reminiscent of the “covfefe” riddle that hit President Trump’s Twitter feed back in 2017.

The joke also paired nicely with The Late Show‘s cold open. Colbert and his team put together this parody of A Beautiful Mind to celebrate the president’s superhuman abilities:

All these jokes at the expense of President Trump’s mental acuity come just a day after The Late Show got an inside look at Donald Trump’s psyche. Colbert’s interview with Mary Trump, the president’s niece and author of Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, examined President Trump’s psychology.

Mary Trump suggested that President Trump has sociopathic tendencies. She also stated that the fact he’s bragging about passing this particular test indicates that he failed it. The president did little to defend himself with the “person, woman, man, camera, TV” routine in the eyes of Colbert.

President Trump’s cognitive abilities are a story in part because he continues to make it a story. Bragging about his test results, challenging Joe Biden, and defending the test’s difficulty all suggest that the talk about his acuity has irritated him. It’s another reason why he should steer clear of watching The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

What did you think of Stephen Colbert’s monologue? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Keep checking Last Night On for more from The Late Show and the rest of late night television.