Stephen Colbert Looks at Trump’s Early Bungling of the Coronavirus Crisis

Unless you’ve fully crossed over into the parallel dimension created by Trump and his sycophants in government and the right-wing media, you know that his administration’s initial response to the COVID-19 crisis was a disaster. The physical distancing and lockdown of the last month has helped slow the spread of the virus, but we’re not out of it yet, despite Trump’s increasing threats of “reopening” America before scientists say it’s ready.

The disconnect between Trump and scientific expertise was exposed further this weekend by the New York Times, which published proof that the highest levels of government were warned about the crisis weeks before action was taken. That incited an absurd press briefing yesterday, with the president forcing reporters to watch a naked piece of propaganda about what a great job he’s supposedly done, before he openly fought with reporters once again.

Stephen Colbert, of course, is no stranger to tracking the lies and irresponsible behavior of Trump and ideologues like him. He’s been doing it for two decades, first on The Daily Show, then The Colbert Report, and now on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which, in the wake of Trump’s election, turned into a far more political show than CBS initially promised. On last night’s episode of his currently-shot-at-home show, Colbert dug into the Times report and what it tells us about Trump’s initial response to COVID-19—or the lack of one. If you can still handle the news wrapped up in comedy, take a look at the clip below.