Comics, including Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Seth Meyers, discussed the fallout from Trump’s defamatory remarks – and his attempts to defend himself

Late-night hosts discussed Donald Trump’s remarks about Haiti and west African countries, which has evolved into a debate over whether the president said one of two similar expletives.

Late-night hosts: 'Sir, they're not shitholes. For one, Trump isn't their president' Read more

Stephen Colbert: ‘Trump is being a complete asshouse’

“It’s day four of Shitholegate,” Stephen Colbert began. “I am confident to my core that that’s going to be bleeped, because CBS has higher standards than the president.”

He continued: “Trump said it on Thursday, and not only did the White House not immediately deny it, Trump reportedly was calling friends to brag about it. He’s like a toddler calling his mom to the potty: come look at the load I dropped on the national discourse.”

Colbert then noted that Republican senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, who were present at the meeting, said they did not recall “the president saying these comments specifically”.

“That’s a non-denial denial,” Colbert replied.



Colbert then showed Perdue calling the reports about Trump’s remarks a “gross misrepresentation”.

“I’ll give you gross, but misrepresentation?” said Colbert. “So yesterday, you can’t remember whether it happened, then suddenly you have a vivid memory of it never happening. That’s fairly common: like, how at first I couldn’t remember if Senator Perdue had a spine, then I had a vidid memory of him never having one.”

Responding to reports that Trump may have used the phrase “shithouse” instead of “shithole”, Colbert concluded: “Well, that changes everything! Either way, Trump is being a complete asshouse who just maybe doesn’t belong in the White Hole.”

Trevor Noah: ‘Here we go again, folks’

Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah also discussed the semantic distinction, and how it’s obfuscated the real meaning of Trump’s comments.

“Here we go again, folks,” Noah began. “President Trump busted for making monstrous comments, this time about an entire continent and Haiti. And just like every other time he says something indefensible, Fox News sprang to his defense.”

Showing footage of the network’s anchors calling Trump’s comments the language of “the forgotten men and women of America”, Noah responded: “Fox News is the greatest improv troupe of all time, because whatever Trump says they immediately find a way to agree.

“At some point this weekend, I thought this argument couldn’t get any more stupid. Or is it stupider?”

Noah said: “Oh, he said shithouse! Now everyone in Africa is walking around like, ‘That changes everything, at least now we have a shit roof over our heads.’”



“Look, did the president say shithole or shithouse? Does it even matter?” Noah continued. “Him having a poo-poo mouth isn’t the story for me. The president of the United States condemning entire groups of people as worthless and undesirable based on what country they happened to be born in: that’s the story.”

“This whole situation reminds me of ‘grab ’em by the pussy,’ because the words are shocking at first,” Noah said. “But then, that’s all some people end up focusing on, instead of the bigger picture. With that story, Trump could have said, ‘I prefer to grab women by the front butt’. It’s still him bragging about sexual assault.”

Seth Meyers: ‘When you say ‘least racist’ you set off alarm bells’

Finally, Seth Meyers of NBC also addressed Trump’s comments, and his recycled defense of himself against accusations of racism.

“It says a lot about where we’re at as a country that in the last few days it was reported that a porn star was paid to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, and for 38 minutes people in Hawaii thought they were about to get hit with an incoming missile, and neither of those is the biggest story in the news right now,” he began.

“Trump has been at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, apparently enjoying a three-day weekend,” Meyers continued. “Last night, he was asked again if he’s a racist and, as usual, he overreached.”



Meyers then showed a clip of Trump responding to a reporter who asked him if he’s a racist. The president replied: “I am the least racist person you’ve ever met.”

“Why do you do that to yourself, man?” Meyers asked. “If you just said, ‘I am not a racist,’ maybe you could muddy the waters and people would have to debate it, but when you say ‘the least racist person’ you just set off alarm bells.”

Trump insists 'I am the least racist person' amid outrage over remarks Read more

“It’s the difference between saying ‘I’m a tall person’ and ‘I’m the tallest person on earth,’” Meyers joked. “With one you go, ‘Yeah, pretty tall, I guess,’ and with the other you go, ‘Oh, he’s crazy.’”