Stephen Colbert’s transition to the host of The Late Show on CBS has been an interesting one. No longer is Colbert just that right wing, satirical funny guy on basic cable who could say and do whatever he wanted. Instead, there he was, in David Letterman’s seat, trying to make jokes that were a bit more relevant and scathing than the usual Letterman fare, but clearly restrained a bit. Over the course of his time in that chair, though, he’s gotten more and more comfortable, leaving the CBS brass with the understanding that they hired Stephen Colbert, they might as well let him be Stephen Colbert.
CBS has commemorated this year of Colbert with this supercut of his best political takedowns in that year’s time and damn, he is no David Letterman. This video is nearly four minutes of nothing but an all-out onslaught of Colbert creating hilarious nicknames for elected officials that show them for the weird nerds that they either are or look like. The jokes go from mild to sick in the blink of an eye. Here are just a few of the choice takedowns contained in this video.
- “Former Speaker of the House and former beef-turned-jerky, John Boehner.”
- “Rhode Island Governor and winner of ‘Why I Should Be in This Debate’ high school essay contest, Lincoln Chaffee.”
- “Texas Senator and half-melted G.I. Joe, Ted Cruz.”
- “Florida Senator and Sears Portrait Gallery sample dad, Marco Rubio.”
- “Retired neurosurgeon and guy that sits next to you in an otherwise empty theater, Ben Carson”
There’s a whole ton more, which makes this a much-watch video. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you run, Colbert roasts them, too, so don’t worry about him only joking on Republicans or Democrats. For Colbert, it’s equal opportunity roasting.