A crude joke about US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked a storm of outrage and shock with calls for the sacking of late-night TV show host Stephen Colbert competing with praise for his outspoken remarks.
Colbert, host of the The Late Show on CBS, made an oral sex joke on Monday night about Mr Trump and Mr Putin during a scathing diatribe against the US President. (The offending joke can be heard in the video below.)
The routine followed the Oval Office interview between CBS journalist John Dickerson and Mr Trump, in which Mr Trump walked out after Dickerson’s tough line of questioning.
The Colbert routine triggered a #FireColbert trending Twitter hashtag, with Mr Trump’s supporters on Wednesday calling for a boycott of CBS Corp advertisers, some people accusing Colbert of being homophobic, others accusing left-wingers of hypocrisy, and still more defending the comedian.
CBS on Wednesday declined to comment on Colbert’s remarks, which follow a surge in popularity for The Late Show since the host stepped up his scathing nightly attacks on Mr Trump.
After a notable silence, Colbert responded on Wednesday evening (US time), refusing to resile from the content of his repertoire.
“I had a few choice insults for the President,” Colbert said, according to CNN. “I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight.”
Colbert did say, though, he “would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be”, but added: “I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero.
“I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the President and I can agree on that. Nothing else. But, that.”
The oral sex joke, which referred to Mr Trump’s repeatedly stated respect for Mr Putin during the 2016 election campaign, came at the end of a particularly insult-laden riff by Colbert.
Addressing Mr Trump, Colbert said, “Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head.”
Time reported that the White House did not immediately return a request for comment on Colbert’s monologue.
It also stated that social media monitoring company Brandwatch said on Wednesday that the #FireColbert hashtag had been used 200,000 times since Monday and there had been more than 10,000 tweets about persuading brands to pull their ad dollars from CBS.
– with AAP
