Colbert Helps Trump Repeal Obamacare
On Monday night’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the host was in fine form. During his monologue, he noted that President-elect Donald Trump canceled his trip to the National Museum of African American History on Martin Luther King Day, adding that this was a good decision because “the last thing we need is Trump learning more about segregation.”
Then later, at his desk, he did one of his patented “Werd” segments — it would have been a “Word” segment, but it turns out Comedy Central has the patent on that from the host’s old Colbert Report show. Anyway, the “Werd” this night was actually a phrase: “Repeal and Erase.” Analyzing Trump’s and the Republicans’ steady march to repeal the Affordable Care Act without telling America exactly what will come in its place, Colbert did the kind of reporting that network and cable news might have done over the weekend instead of making Trump’s tweet about Rep. John Lewis its only-one-news-story-at-a-time topic.
Colbert quoted Trump’s detailed explanation of what will replace Obamacare by playing Trump’s press conference sound bite: “Everyone will be beautifully covered” — “by 6 feet of dirt,” added Colbert, when some of the 20 million people currently enrolled find themselves with no insurance.
The host then suggested a solution for Trump: Form the “Avoidable Care Act,” which, said Colbert, would “make it illegal for your doctor to tell you your diagnosis; that way, you’ll never need insurance, as far as you know.” Gee, thanks, Steve. As the inauguration approaches, these alternatives are starting to feel less and less like jokes.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights on CBS.
