Stephen Colbert on the GOP falling apart from conspiracy theories and division

Stephen Colbert is standing by and watching the Republican Party tear itself apart. His monologue last night on The Late Show explained why the GOP is facing a disaster of its own making.

Viewers of The Late Show have seen Colbert charting the downfall of the Republican Party for the past five years. The late night comedian’s monologues have exposed how Republican lawmakers coalesced around former President Donald Trump, following his lead and encouraging his worst impulses.

But with President Trump gone, the GOP is at a turning point. It can either continue to be the party of Trump or reset to an identity more recognizable to what the party stands for. Stephen Colbert isn’t holding his breath.

Colbert’s monologue last night examined the division in the party stemming from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s history of promoting conspiracy theories. She has not faced any consequences despite heavy criticism including from inside the Republican Party. Colbert argues that Republicans only have themselves to blame for the mess they’re in.

It’s not a good sign when the fringe group inside a political party are the ones who condemn an insurrection at the Capitol. But that’s how Stephen Colbert describes the split in the Republican Party that has turned some GOPers against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Colbert doesn’t applaud Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for speaking out against Rep. Taylor Greene. The Late Show host expands on Sen. McConnell’s cancer comparison, joking that the GOP once found “a suspicious lump and then nominated the tumor for president.”

Stephen Colbert says Republicans’ behavior was predictable

There is also no praise for former members of President George W. Bush’s administration that have left the Republican Party. Colbert argues that President Bush was just as guilty of lying to the American people as was President Trump.

For Colbert, nobody should be surprised to see where the GOP has ended up. He cites former Bush advisor Karl Rove who called his critics the “reality-based community” and that he could “create his own reality.”

The notion of an alternate reality has been a common theme in Colbert’s monologues. It was used to describe how President Trump tried to manipulate the truth in the hopes everyone else would buy in.

Colbert closes out his monologue by arguing that conspiracy theories aren’t new to the Republican Party in 2021. In another callback to Sen. McConnell’s words, Colbert leaves his audience with this:

"So if crazy conspiracy theories are in fact a cancer on the Republican Party, people like Mitch McConnell and Karl Rove have spent the last 20 years selling cigarettes to their base."

What did you think of Stephen Colbert’s monologue? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.