Jeb Bush took the risk by appearing on Stephen Colbert's debut as host of The Late Show.

In the end, Donald Trump took most of the heat.


Colbert, who is leaving behind the conservative pundit character he played for years as host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" as he takes the helm of a network's flagship late night program, did not spend his first CBS show skewering the politician brave enough to be his guest (Hillary Clinton was offered the guest slot that went to to Bush on Colbert's first show, opting to appear this week on NBC's "Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, who offers a friendlier foil to would-be guests.)

Instead, Colbert mocked Trump, showing Bush, who has struggled to cut the billionaire down to size, that humor might be the most effective weapon in a topsy-turvy presidential race that is becoming increasingly indistinguishable from reality telvision.

Colbert reminded guests at the start of the show that Bush served for eight years as governor of Florida. "You would think that much exposure to oranges and crazy people would have prepared him for Donald Trump," he quipped.

In an opening sketch, Colbert sat at his desk and mocked Trump's declaration that he will no longer eat Oreo cookies because Nabisco is moving a factory to Mexico. He marveled at Trump's "amazing" support from white supremacist groups because, as he said, "Trump's not white — he's more Oompa Loompa-merican." In a segment that was cut from the final show due to time constraints, Colbert even urged Bush to be "more Trumpian," asking him to recite a number of lines, including: “I will build a wall between the United States and Iran.”

In spending much of his opening monologue and his interview with Bush gently mocking Trump, Colbert ensured that Bush — yet again — was cast in the shadow of the blustery billionaire who has upended the Republican race for the White House that he now leads. But he also spared Bush, who is struggling to shake off Trump's characterization of him as "low energy," from much of his typical mockery.

During the awkward seven-minute segment, Colbert mostly asked straightforward questions. Bush, characteristically, played it straight, sticking to his standard elevator pitch about the country "being close to being the greatest time to be alive" if only for stronger leadership in the White House.

He drew laughs when Colbert asked about the exclamation point in his "Jeb!" slogan.

"It connotes excitement," Bush said.

Colbert ribbed Bush harder last week when he released a video in which he appeared to take issue with the candidate's decision to raffle off a ticket to Tuesday's "Late Show" taping in New York City. “No one from Jeb’s campaign asked whether this was OK with me to raise money off my first show,” Colbert said in the video. “Where’s my cut of that sweet three bucks, Governor? Huh?”

Bush, who riffed on the exchange during a town hall last Thursday, has said that his campaign did receive permission, hinting that the host’s video shtick was a joke. With Colbert, of course, it’s not always clear what is and isn’t a joke — or who’s the butt of it.

It underlined the riskiness of going toe to toe with Colbert, whose success over the years has come in large part from his ability to deflate the biggest of egos.

No one knows the sting of Colbert’s satire better than Jeb Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush. The then-Comedy Central star, in the persona of the conservative pundit character he played on "The Colbert Report," mocked Bush for a good 20 minutes during the 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner with the president seated just beside him on stage.

In the searing routine, Colbert ripped the president over his response to Hurricane Katrina and his declaration of victory in Iraq aboard an aircraft carrier in 2003. “I stand by this man,” Colbert said that night with Bush seated a few feet away. “I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers, and rubble, and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message: that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound — with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world."

Jeb Bush's appearance Tuesday night came as he continues to struggle to fend off Trump, who seems immune from policy attacks and maintains a commanding lead over the field despite a number of statements that would qualify as major gaffes were they made by other candidates.

“The stakes are getting higher for Jeb because more people are beginning to question whether he’s got it, whether he’s a viable candidate for the presidency,” said Guy Benson, a conservative pundit and author. “With everyone else but Donald Trump starved for media oxygen, an interview like this will probably attract more scrutiny. It will benefit him if he does well, but could further a negative narrative if he bombs or if he’s just boring.”

For Bush, the opportunity of the high-profile appearance outweighed the risks.

“Voters want to get to know the person running for president. This is a unique opportunity to do it,” said Tim Miller, a Bush spokesman. “There’ll be a ton of interest in it, compared to your average late night show — there’ll be more eyeballs. It was tough to pass up.”

In 1992, Bill Clinton’s sunglasses-wearing, saxophone-playing performance on "The Arsenio Hall Show" solidified his appeal to minority and young voters. Hall, however, was not known for routinely mocking the guests who appeared on his show. Since then, it's become increasingly commonplace for politicians to appear on late-night television shows and even YouTube channels in an effort reveal a lighter, less-scripted side. And to reach younger voters.



Even as Bush has shifted his strategy and willingly engaged Trump, whom he criticizes now almost every time he grabs a microphone, his campaign continues to search for a spark and a way to break out of his campaign's tendency to be programmatic.

“He keeps insisting that he is running a joyful campaign,” Benson said. “Perhaps on a comedy show, he’ll have an opportunity to showcase a joy that’s been less than apparent to many voters of late.”

Over the past two months, Trump has done everything in his power to turn Bush into a laughingstock, antagonizing the former Florida governor by criticizing his speaking Spanish, dismissing him as “low energy” and taunting him about their opposite trajectories in the GOP field — Trump rising in the polls as Jeb drops.

On Tuesday, Trump posted another video to his Instagram account showing video of the factory worker who nodded off last Thursday during Bush’s town hall in Hampton, New Hampshire and referring to Bush as a “cure for insomnia.”

“Wake up Jeb supporters!” Trump wrote alongside the post.

