Stephen Colbert blasts Trump's 'brilliant' move to withdraw WHO funding during a global pandemic
President Donald Trump has been drawing a lot of flak for his slow response to the coronavirus crisis, which often saw him downplaying the threat despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring it a global emergency. With the rising fatalities in the US, it is clear the country is under severe strain and all is not what it seems.
Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert after taking aim at Trump's COVID-19 briefing sessions, he has now criticized Trump's decision to defund the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the coronavirus crisis. "Folks if you watch the show you know I criticize Donald Trump a lot but with this coronavirus gripping the nation made me realize that I don't do this enough and I blame myself - a sentence Donald Trump has never said because Donald Trump clearly only thinks about the needs of Donald Trump and right now he needs someone to blame for how poorly he responded to the coronavirus. So yesterday at the press briefing he announced this."
Colbert cut to the video from the press briefing, where Trump announced, "Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization."
"He is defunding the World Health Organization during a global pandemic. Brilliant! It's like when your house is engulfed in flames, the first thing you do, burn down the fire department!" exclaimed Colbert.
You can watch the video here.
"The US is the WHO's biggest donor so Trump is talking about taking away $553M. He hasn't done anything this hostile to World Health since introducing the 'burger table' and I am not the only one thinks this is dumb. So does billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and referred to a tweet against Trump's decision. "I agree with Bill Gates and this time, I am not just saying this to get into his will. I always loved you, papa, you can bing it," joked Colbert.
"He's trying really hard to justify his rash and dangerous action," mentioned Colbert before a video from the press briefing played on the screen where Trump is seen accusing the WHO to having not adequately shared information in a timely fashion. "The reality is the WHO failed to adequately obtain, vet, and share information in a timely and transparent fashion. The delays the WHO experienced in delaying a public health emergency cost valuable time. The WHO has not addressed a single one of these concerns nor provided a single explanation that acknowledges its own mistakes."
"I think you might be projecting, Sir," added Colbert. He then went on to do a Trump impression and said the following "The WHO dragged its feet on COVID. The WHO cheated on Melania when she was home with a 3-month-old. The WHO thinks they can get out of this by blaming all the screwups on the WHO. Not gonna work WHO."
Colbert then cut to WHO's address on January 30 when they declared a global emergency while Trump and the White House waited till mid-March to address the situation as an emergency. He also mentioned that this "buck-passing" that the president is resorting to is not going to work for long as everyone watching the news knew that this was going to happen eventually.
Amid this he also highlighted the reason why he's able to run his show from home, commending his staff taking the situation seriously and also revealed that they were ready to vacate the Ed Sullivan theater as early as February 28, the same day that Trump blamed the Democrats for "politicizing the coronavirus" and called it their "new hoax".
Colbert mentioned that they are just a TV show and were not supposed to be more prepared than the POTUS. He also called out Trump for meeting up with the hospitals and hospital associations to analyze the situation of the virus, as late as April. He later revisited Trump's statement from the April 13 press briefing where he said that he will be getting in touch with governors of all 50 states to authorize them to implement a reopening. Colbert noted that the president is now "authorizing the governors to do what they are already doing". He later also brought attention to the fact that Trump has been insistent on having his name on stimulus paychecks. "I don't think anyone wants a cheque that Trump signed. I think that legally makes you a porn star."
'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' airs weeknights on CBS.