Stephen Colbert broke the news to his studio audience on Thursday’s (December 18) The Late Show that the Kennedy Center was being renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center.
“I have a feeling you just found out too,” the late-night host said, as the audience erupted into boos upon hearing the news, which was announced just before The Late Show started taping.
President Donald Trump’s handpicked board voted “unanimously” to rename the iconic Washington D.C. arts venue “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
“[Trump] can’t have his name on a memorial! He’s alive… or so his doctors claim,” Colbert quipped.
The comedian then turned his attention to “White House press gremlin” Karoline Leavitt, who tweeted about the news on Thursday evening, sharing her “congratulations” to President Trump… and to President Kennedy.
“Congratulations to President Kennedy? Did she tweet that on her phone or on a Ouija board?” Colbert retorted.
There are legal obstacles in the way of Trump’s plan to force his name into the Kennedy Center’s name, as Colbert pointed out, “The name can only be changed by an act of Congress.”
The host added that the Kennedy Center is more than just a name, sharing a comment from former Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser, who told The Washington Post, “I think just as we would have a hard time imagining the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial named for someone other than Washington or Lincoln, it’s difficult to imagine the Kennedy Center named after anyone other than President Kennedy.”
“So buckle up, America,” Colbert continued. “Before this is over, [Trump’s] gonna rub his balls on everything. Why not just replace the Liberty Bell with Trump? I mean, he’s got a bigger crack.”
Colbert noted that all this “nonsense” is just a distraction from the ongoing drama surrounding the Epstein files, which, legally, the Department of Justice must release by Friday (today, December 19).
You can watch Colbert’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS
