Stephen Colbert of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert opened his Thursday evening show by poking fun at some of the Democratic candidates hoping to run against U.S. President Donald Trump in the presidential election next year.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the last week talking about Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric,” said Colbert, 55. “But there is one race Trump dislikes more than all of the others… That’s the race for the Democratic nomination,” he joked.
As of the time this episode was recorded, there were eight qualifying candidates for the Democratic nomination. There are currently nine.
This did not include Colorado senior senator Michael Bennet or Venture for America founder Andrew Yang — both of whom the Late Show host mocked for not yet meeting the requirements to join the upcoming Democratic debate before the deadline, during his “Doin’ it Donkey Style” segment.
“The next Democratic debate is a month away, and only eight candidates have qualified for it so far. Everyone else is getting desperate to break through,” said Colbert.
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“For instance,” he began, “Colorado senator and man-who-got-cut-from-the-Cialis-commercial-for-being-too-boring, Michael Bennet.”
Colbert then referred to a recent tweet by the 54-year-old senator, calling it a “pretty radical campaign promise.”
“If you elect me president,” wrote Bennet. “I promise you won’t have to think about me for two weeks at a time.”
“Way ahead of you,” joked the TV host. “I do get excited about the idea of not thinking about the president. Also… not thinking.”
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Colbert was met with roaring laughter from his studio audience.
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“Another candidate desperate to appeal to voters is tech entrepreneur and guy-killing-it-on-CFO-stand-up-night Andrew Yang.”
Yang, 44, released a public Spotify playlist titled “Yang’s Favorite Jams” on Tuesday, which Colbert continued to make fun of him about.
As reported by CNN on Thursday evening, however, Yang has since met the threshold to participate in the upcoming Democratic primary debate and become the ninth qualifying candidate.
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You can now hear Yang’s 42-track “Favorite Jams” playlist through Spotify.
WATCH: Stephen Colbert tears into Republicans for inaction on gun control
On Monday evening, Colbert went after Trump again in a rage-fuelled monologue about American gun control.
This followed the horrific mass shootings that took place over the weekend, within 24 hours of each other, in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio — claiming at least 31 innocent lives.
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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 ET/PT on Global. Watch clips from the segment in the video above.
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