Late-night hosts criticised Donald Trump’s desperate attempts to try to separate himself from a racist chant at one of his rallies this week

Seth Meyers to Trump: 'If their country is crime-infested then that's on you' Read more

Stephen Colbert: ‘You inspired them, Wussolini’

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert urged his audience to “please chant responsibly” before referencing the North Carolina rally that saw Trump supporters scream “Send her back” when the president mentioned congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

While many were outraged, Colbert compared Trump to “a creature of pure energy in Star Trek – our horror only makes him stronger” before playing footage of Trump angrily saying he’s unable to remember all three of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s names. Colbert joked that he’d rather stick with his friends: Mohammed bin Salman, Kim Jong-un and KFC.

Colbert added: “I never thought I’d say this, but these rallies where a nationalist leader whips people up into a racist frenzy might have a dark side.”

Trump has tried to distance himself from the chant. But Colbert isn’t letting him off the hook. “This is your party: you’re the bride at the white power wedding.”

He continued: “If you’re gonna be a demagogue, at least grow a pair and take responsibility for what you inspired them to chant, Wussolini. You created that crowd. You’re like Dr Frankenstein saying: ‘I didn’t strangle those villagers’.”

Trevor Noah: ‘I don’t know what’s a worse lie’

On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah also focused in on Trump’s racist rally and played footage of the president singling out each of the four congresswomen in the Squad who were all booed, apart from Ayanna Pressley. “On the one hand, I don’t want to get booed, and on the other hand, I don’t want to get left out if all my other friends got booed and I didn’t,” he joked.

The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) Trump supporters chanting “send her back” about Ilhan Omar almost makes you miss the days when all they wanted was to imprison a woman without trial. pic.twitter.com/3JfI9kykeo

In response to the “Send her back” chant, Noah said: “It almost makes you miss the innocent days when all Trump’s crowd wanted to do was imprison a woman without trial. At least Hillary would get to stay in the country.”

He was also frustrated by Trump’s attempt to avoid any blame. “He inspired the chant!” Noah said.

Trump has also claimed that he quickly stopped the crowd from repeating the chant. Noah said: “I don’t know what’s a worse lie: Trump saying he didn’t like the chant or that he quickly stopped the crowd from chanting.”

Noah then said “Usain Bolt could have won a gold medal in that time” before showing that this is in fact correct by playing footage of Trump pausing at the same time as Bolt winning a sprint.

Seth Meyers: ‘He’s a racist whose brain is mostly oatmeal’

On Late Night, Seth Meyers zeroed in on the same subject. “Trump isn’t some genius political chessmaster,” Meyers said. “He’s a racist whose brain is mostly oatmeal and his mouth is attached to Fox News like some kind of human centipede. He’s a wannabe authoritarian who craves the adoration of crowds.”

Trump told the crowd he could stay with them all night as he had nothing else to do. “It’s comforting to know that Trump isn’t actually doing anything,” Meyers said.

In response to the chant, he said: “This is one of the most vile spectacles in modern political history, a defining moment for our country, and any Republican who doesn’t immediately condemn it should imagine how it will look in a history textbook years from now.”

Meyers also showed footage of Trump awkwardly standing around while the chant was repeated. “That’s not how you stop a chant. That’s how you wait in line at the deli for them to call your number,” he said.