Stephen Colbert grills John Bolton: 'How could you be naive?'
On the day his new book, The Room Where It Happened was released, former national security advisor John Bolton appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert where he and Colbert got into a heated debate, beginning with Bolton’s reason for supporting President Trump in 2016.
Video Transcript
STEPHEN COLBERT: What could be worse in Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden's philosophy than betraying your country to a hostile foreign leader, sir?
JOHN BOLTON: Trust me, I understand that point.
STEPHEN COLBERT: Well, will you answer that question?
JOHN BOLTON: Yeah, I'm trying to.
STEPHEN COLBERT: OK, I'm sorry. My apologies, go ahead.
KYLIE MAR: On the day when his new book, "The Room Where It Happened," was released, former National Security Advisor John Bolton joined "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, where he and Colbert got in a heated debate about his early support for President Trump.
JOHN BOLTON: He's not going to be a Democrat subject, especially these days to the pressure of the left. Look, I bought that argument in 2016.
STEPHEN COLBERT: No, he's going to be subject to the pressure of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. He's a person willing to sell out the interests of the American people for his own re-election.
KYLIE MAR: Bolton said in a recent interview that for the sake of the country, he hopes Trump is a one-term president. But before working at the White House, he didn't believe Trump was as bad as he was made out to be.
JOHN BOLTON: I couldn't believe it was that bad, and I know other people say they saw it from the beginning.
STEPHEN COLBERT: But you're an international negotiator. How could you be naive? You've dealt with the worst people in the world.
JOHN BOLTON: You've really insulted me now by calling me naive.
KYLIE MAR: Colbert was clearly frustrated with Bolton, because "The Late Show" host thinks Trump isn't that difficult to figure out.
STEPHEN COLBERT: I guess what's exasperating is there is absolutely nothing that Donald Trump has done that is surprising to me. My rule is everything you think about Donald Trump is probably true, because he's not deep enough to get your socks wet in.
He's incredibly readable. That's why when he ran casinos, the house lost.
KYLIE MAR: In the book, Bolton claims Trump committed multiple impeachable offenses, including the president's deal with Ukraine. Something several Republicans agreed with, but voted to acquit Trump anyway. Bolton blamed the Democrats for the failed conviction and for his not testifying, and made a point that Colbert had to agree with.
STEPHEN COLBERT: Even though they know he is guilty, they will not do what's best for the American people.
JOHN BOLTON: No, I think it was the Democrats who created this scenario. They wanted to hurry, so that the impeachment process did not affect the Democratic presidential nomination.
STEPHEN COLBERT: I agree with you there I agree with you that was a mistake.
