Stephen Colbert went live on Wednesday night after President Joe Biden took office and the feeling of deep relief in the room was palpable.
“Well, you did it,” he said to his Late Show viewers. “Have you survived the past four years and your reward? A brilliant new and old president. ”After admitting that he“ cried a lot ”throughout the day, Colbert said:“ It was extremely exciting and not quite the way I expected it to. Because I have to tell you, I have no pride in myself. There is no final zone dance in me. What I feel is a huge relief. “
“Today felt like a return to normality, although most of the day was abnormal,” said the host. But at least, he explained, we are now finally recognizing the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. “And the strangest feeling is when something is clearly abnormal and someone tries to say it is not,” added Colbert. “What we saw today was the opposite of gas lighting. Today, we’ve been taking a realistic approach and I’m here for that. “
As for the grand entrance of the new first couple, the host joked: “Isn’t it adorable? A presidential couple holding hands in a way that doesn’t seem mandatory by contract. The contrasts with Trump continued when Colbert said: “It is so strange to hear someone say that we are a great nation without then hearing about which of us are radical socialist antifa with the intention of destroying our heritage with low flow discharge.”
And later, “It was so good to have a soulful president again. The former sold it to the devil and did not even take Georgia out of business. “
Finally, Colbert praised the “beautiful and moving words” of the poet Amanda Gorman, who said that “being an American is more than a pride that we inherit, it is the past we enter and how we fix it”.
“Yes, how do you fix the past?” Colbert asked. “Have we tried to disconnect the past and reconnect it? Because it works in everything else. “
“But, regardless of how we fix this country, it is not just the job of the new government,” he continued. “It depends on all of us, as always, in whatever way we can. And President Biden, Vice President Harris, you have our prayers, our best wishes and all of our confidence. “
For more, listen and subscribe The last laugh podcast.