Stephen Colbert's honest reaction to Trump assassination attempt

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert went live following the Republican National Convention on Monday night. But the episode opened with a pre-recorded monologue from Stephen Colbert sharing his reaction to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Despite his open contempt for the former president, Colbert unsurprisingly delivered a measured and sincere response. "My immediate reaction when I saw this on Saturday [was] horror at was unfolding, relief that Donald Trump had lived, and frankly, grief for my beautiful country, and then fresh horror as we learned that attendees had also been shot, one of whom died at the rally," Colbert said.

For Colbert, the incident was just another example that "violence has no role in our politics." The Late Show host compared it to other tragedic events in which he has opened the show and delivered a somber monologue rather than jokes.

He went on to comment on how the assassination attempt on Donald Trump is the latest in a string of violent attacks or plots against politicians. As Colbert explained, this wasn't a one-off shock.

Colbert closed out his open monologue by suggesting less focus be placed on the shooter's motivation and more effort go into toning down the rhetoric. To do so, Colbert commented that criticisms be directed toward the ideas that canidates represent more than the individuals.

It's a nice idea but it's not exactly new advice. Late-night TV has certainly been guilty of attacking the person and not the ideas, albeit nowhere near a level of extremism. Colbert has relentlessly mocked the character, intelligence, morality, and ideas of Donald Trump and many other Republicans.

So as he kicked off his post-RNC coverage, the Late Show host vowed to spotlight the ideas represented by Donald Trump and the GOP. Whether that approach will carryover once the convention ends and the campaigning continues remains to be seen.