Late-night hosts on Thursday discussed Donald Trump’s solutions to America’s gun violence problem, and the CNN town hall with survivors of the Parkland mass shooting.

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Stephen Colbert: ‘Every option is on the table – except fewer guns’

“The national conversation continues to be how to keep our children safe from gun violence,” Stephen Colbert began. “Everyone acknowledges that this is a crisis, so for the president, the Republican party, and the NRA, every option is on the table except fewer guns.”

Colbert went on to address Trump’s listening session with students, teachers, and parents from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. “It was clearly a test of Trump’s ability to listen, because he brought along a cheat sheet that included ‘I hear you’,” the host said, invoking the photo of Trump’s talking points on a note card.

“It is a little unsettling that the president needs a cheat sheet for reacting to other people’s emotions,” Colbert said. He went on to discuss some of Trump’s proposals, which included arming teachers who are “adept at firearms”, a position he denied and later doubled down on on Twitter.



“Yes, Trump never said to give guns to teachers willy-nilly,” Colbert joked, referencing the president’s tweet about arming “weapons-talented” teachers. “I mean, can you imagine what this country would be like if anyone could get a gun?”



“Now, obviously, all of this sound pretty grim, but Donald Trump has a message of hope,” Colbert said, before showing footage of Trump saying: “I think we need hardened sights. We need to let people know, ‘You come into our schools, you’re going to be dead.’”



Trevor Noah: ‘That was such an epic fail’

Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah also addressed some of Trump’s ideas, as well as those of Senator Marco Rubio, who appeared before survivors and constituents at a CNN town hall to debate solutions to gun violence.

“Rubio tried his best to explain his positions, but you could tell he was totally out of sync with the rest of the room,” Noah said, before showing footage of Rubio saying that loopholes are so easily exploited by shooters that you’d have to ban assault weapons outright, an idea that elicited cheers from the audience.

“That was such an epic fail,” Noah said. “Rubio said the solution like it was the problem. It reminded me of the reaction of lot of men had to the #MeToo movement, when people were like, ‘If we carry on like this, we’re going to live in a world where men can’t even hit on their female staff. Oh, that is what we want?’”



Noah continued: “Usually, town halls are just an opportunity for politicians to spin the narrative and get their talking points out, but these kids held Rubio’s feet to the fire so hard that they got him to do something that most conservatives hate: evolve.”



The host then showed clip of Rubio saying he was reconsidering his position on magazine clip sizes.

“President Trump didn’t come to the town hall in Florida, but he did host his own listening session in the Mar-a-Lago of the north,” Noah said, ridiculing Trump for his notes.

“Seriously, the guy’s a stable genius, but he can’t remember to say ‘I hear you’,” Noah said. “It’s a listening session!”



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Addressing Trump’s suggestion of giving armed teachers bonuses, Noah said: “America really is a special place. For years, teachers have been asking for more pay and politicians have said they don’t have enough money, but now the president’s like, ‘If you’re willing to cap some fools, we’re gonna make it rain.’”