Liberal comedian Stephen Colbert recently joked with his audience during an episode of “The Late Show” that President-elect Donald Trump may detain him after he is inaugurated on Monday. Following Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 election and the palpable energy behind his second term, there have been widespread fears among Democrats that he will wield power against them.
“Inside it’s just a little, little, little bittersweet and sour, a little semi-sweet chocolate chip. It’s the end of an era. Because this is our last show of the Biden administration,” Colbert said as the live audience gave a sigh of disappointment. “Yeah, it’s been a good run, it’s been a good run, Joe, thank you,” he added, voicing gratitude for the outgoing president.
“Thank you for all your efforts. The next time … next time you all see me, Donald Trump will be president, and you may not see me,” he quipped, as the audience laughed. “Next four years. Next four years, we’re taking this one day at a time,” Colbert said. While it is debatable how serious the comedian was in the joke, there are many Democrats who are deeply worried about how Trump will use his power.
This was demonstrated during Trump’s Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi’s Senate confirmation hearing, in which she was grilled by congressional Democrats on how justice will be upheld at the federal level under her leadership. While many conservatives have slammed the DOJ for being allegedly weaponized throughout the Biden administration, the left is now worried it will be turned against them.
For example, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questioned Bondi on various other topics, including whether Bondi would prosecute journalists based on what they write, whether an “enemies list” will be maintained, and more. Bondi confidently shut down all these claims, maintaining freedom will be protected and justice will be served appropriately.
“I believe in the freedom of speech only if anyone commits a crime. It’s pretty basic. Senator with anything with any victim, and this is this goes back to my entire career, for 18 years as a prosecutor and then eight years as Florida’s Attorney General, you find the facts of the case, you apply the law in good faith, and you treat everyone fairly,” Bondi told the Rhode Island Democrat.
At one point, Whitehouse asserted it was wrong for a prosecutor to “start with a name and look for a crime” maintaining they must “start with a crime and look for a name.” Bondi proceeded to flip the script on the senator. “I think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen the last four years and what’s been happening to Donald Trump,” she told Whitehouse.
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Watch Colbert below:
She continued, “They targeted Donald Trump. They went after him, actually, starting back in 2016 they targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him. That will not be the case if I am attorney general. I will not politicize that office. I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered even handedly throughout this country. Senator, we’ve got to bring this country back together. We’ve got to move forward, or we’re going to lose our country.” Nonetheless, Whitehouse maintained his fear that weaponization could occur under Trump’s second term.
Watch Bondi below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.