Late night comedian Stephen Colbert defended President Trump’s efforts to secure a denuclearization agreement with North Korea against MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.
Matthews said Trump should not have agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a conversation on Monday’s episode of CBS’ “Late Show” which was recorded before the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
“He wants to make friends with countries where the leaders kill people,” Matthews said. “The guy has killed around 300 people they know about. Look at [Russian President Vladimir] Putin! He kills our journalists and these are awful people and he wants to become best friends with them?”
Colbert cut in to say he sees why Trump is attempting charm offensive with Pyongyang.
“I can kind of understand North Korea because you butter up somebody to get them to the negotiating table,” Colbert stated, explaining why Trump would call the Korean dictator a “very talented man.” “And if he succeeds, God bless him. If he succeeds in reducing the nuclear threat in North Korea —”
Matthews interrupted his comment, laughing along with the crowd.
“No, but you have to. You have to think the best,” Colbert went on. “You have to hope your president succeeds in that condition.”
“This is not a date, this is not going to work. This is not just lunch. It’s not going to work,” Matthews replied.
By the end of their discussion Matthews conceded that if it “makes the world safer” then it was a good move by the president.
At the culmination of their summit Tuesday local time, Trump and Kim signed an agreement “to work toward complete denuclearization” and “the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.” Trump also stated that he will not end sanctions on North Korea until they completely follow up on their end of the agreement and that he is holding off on an additional 300 sanctions as a display of faith and a token of goodwill.
Not everything Colbert had to say about Trump on his Monday show was positive. He called the president a “douchebag” for his treatment of G-7 allies this weekend, particularly Canada.
