Stephen Colbert: GOP ‘Kicked America in the Balls’ with Obamacare Repeal Vote

Stephen Colbert believes Republicans in the House “kicked America in the balls” with their passage of the American Health Care Act on Thursday.

During his Thursday night monologue on CBS’ Late Show, Colbert — whose use of a slur to describe the president earlier this week has apparently already been forgotten — railed against the bill, which is meant as a GOP alternative to former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

“The new bill would cut taxes for the wealthy up to $883 billion,” Colbert said during his nearly ten-minute monologue. “Now listen, if hearing that raises your blood pressure, calm down. You can’t afford the medication anymore.”

Colbert went on to skewer White House chief of staff Reince Priebus for a quote in which he said “the president stepped up and helped us punt the ball into the end zone.” (The Hill journalist Molly Hooper later said she misquoted Priebus, and that he had said “punch” instead of “punt”).

“Yes, a punt into the end zone,” Colbert repeated, quoting what Priebus did not say. “Accurate because it gives you zero points and gives your opponent good field position.”

“I think a more accurate football metaphor might have been, the GOP just kicked America in the balls,” he added.

Colbert sparked a social media campaign to get him fired from CBS this week after referring to President Donald Trump’s mouth as “Vladimir Putin’s c*ck holster” during his Monday Late Show monologue.

The host addressed the controversy during his Wednesday show, but stopped short of offering an apology.

“I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes, he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight,” Colbert said Wednesday. “So while I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be.”

 

Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum