Stephen Colbert mocks Trump's boast about fictional character Hannibal Lecter 'loving him'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In a recent episode of 'The Late Show', host Stephen Colbert couldn't resist poking fun at former president Donald Trump's latest boast. At the Iowa rally on October 7, Trump after criticizing America's current border policies, made a bizarre reference to 'Silence of the Lambs'.
“Hannibal Lecter, how great an actor was he?” said Trump, forgetting that Anthony Hopkins played the cannibal character in the 1991 film
“You know why I like him? Because he said on television on one of the – ‘I love Donald Trump.’ So I love him. I love him. I love him. He said that a long time ago and once he said that, he was in my camp, I was in his camp. I don’t care if he was the worst actor, I’d say he was great to me.”
Stephen Colbert delivers 'killer' lines about Trump
Trump on Hannibal Lecter: You know why I like him? Because he said on television “I love Donald Trump” so I love him pic.twitter.com/1jYyXKFkjI
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 7, 2023
Colbert naturally seized upon this gaffe as did hundreds of people on social media. On his October 9 show, Colbert ripped into Trump for his faux pas.
Starting off his piece, Colbert while talking about the current political scenario and how it is important to listen to people with "geopolitical experience."
The late night talk show host joked that Trump was pretty laser-focused on the international crisis aka the Israel-Hamas war since on the day of the Hamas attack on October 7, when he was at the Iowa rally, he chose to boast about Hannibal Lecter' alleged love for him
Colbert in his monologue said Hannibal acted like he wasn't gonna eat those people and then he did. "He ate those guys' faces like a slice of Papa John's . I mean what a pro. You never gonna see his face."
Colbert then leant into what Trump said about loving the fictional character, adding that if Trump loves Hannibal then by that reason alone he also loves Norman Bates (a fictional character and killer from the movie 'Psycho')
Colbert then play acted like Trump, pretending that he liked Norman Bates because of their shared annoyance at bad water pressure in the shower since one of the famous scenes from the thriller movie involved Bates killing his victim in the shower.
Stephen Colbert compiles 'endorsements' from fictional serial killers
Colbert then referred to some historical and fictional characters famous for being villains and creatures of horror. He brought in Emperor Palpatine from the 'Star Wars' franchise, adding a touch of sci-fi humor to the mix.
'You know who else loves me?' Colbert asked mockingly, still play acting as Trump, before replying, "Great Emperor Palpatine," or as sci-fans say - Darth Sidious
Another fictional character that got a mention in Colbert's monologue was the clown from Stephen King's 'IT' who he described as the "fun guy, always carries balloons for the kids. Gave me some great makeup advice."
Scar from Disney's 'The Lion King' also got a mention. Colbert noted that some consider Scar a king and drew a humorous link between Scar's character and Trump and even brought Ukrainians and hyenas into the mix.
He didn't shy away from referencing the infamous dark wizard Voldemort from the Harry Potter series as well, continuing to play on Trump's usage of the word 'love' while referring to Hannibal Lecter.
"How about Voldemort, folks? Hell of a leader. They say you can't say his name, but I'll name him. We love Voldemort, don't we?," Colbert said.
The monologue concluded with Colbert jokingly stating that Trump collects endorsements not only from real-life figures but also from fictional serial killers, highlighting the absurdity of it all.
Internet finds it hard to differentiate 'comedian's monologue' from 'Trump speech'
Reactions on YouTube to Colbert's scathing takedown of Trump reflected the audience's appreciation for Colbert's comedic take on the absurdities of politics and more so Trump's tall claims.
One wrote, "Times are bad when it's hard to tell the difference between a comedian's monologue and a Trump speech."
"I have zero trouble thinking Donnie believes Hannibal is a real person, and wants him 'on his team'." wrote another.
"Can't imagine someone as courteous as Lecter liking Trump," wrote a social media user in disbelief.
One viewer praised the late-night show's writers as they wrote: "I understand why he refused to say his name but I've really missed the Trump impression and I'm so glad it's back. That run on talking about villains was brilliant. The writers obviously had a lot of fun with that one."
Another viewer imagined what would it be like when Hopkins comes to know of Trump's boast. He wrote: "If Trump actually thinks that Hannibal Lecter is an actual person instead of a character then he's even more disconnected from reality than we thought. I'm now trying to picture Sir Anthony Hopkins receiving the news that he is wrongfully accused of having endorsed Donald Trump."