And musical guest public enemy featuring live jon batiste and stay homin. And now, live on tape from the ed sullivan Theater Office building in new york city, its Stephen Colbert stephen welcome, welcome, one and all to a late show. I am your host, Stephen Colbert, as it says on the bone here. Well, we are live, right there, after the first president ial debate. Tonight was the opening round of donald trump versus joe biden, the battle of the boomers, the showman juries the joeman. Get ready for democracy to crumble i come to you tonight, ladies and gentlemen, an empty vessel, a man with a mind wiped clean. I have stood in the swirling chaos of creation. I have seen shiva wielding his carvings agreement gout oft universe. The sky once red, blue, and black until all that remained was a starless void and the hollowed husk once known as Chris Wallace. We are emerged from the mat whirlwind where we forbade on the governance of god himself, and he said unto us, jesus, stop interrupting him, you giant baby yes, tonight saw the best minds of our generation destroyed by madness starving hysterical, naked, dragging themselves through the streets at dawn, looking for the mute button. Forget Fact Checking this debate. We couldnt even do any sentence finding i never thought id say this, but i am so looking forward to the Vice President ial debate. I mean, for petes sake, children watched that im glad ive already had my children, because i think just watching that sterilized me. But who knows . Who who knows . I can get emotional. Maybe im a little overheated. Lets see what the news professionals had to say about it. Dana bash. That was a bleep show. Okay, okay. That is, first of all, an insult to both shows and the other word that i cant say because this is cbs. Its not exactly accurate, because at least after a 90minute poop, you generally feel better. laughter okay. Oh lets get to the coverage. Going into tonights debate, anticipation was abub lin. The New York Times predicted a clash of style and ideas. No, bad, New York Times, bad stop pretending that any of this is normal. Theyre not equivalent candidates. You dont see a guy trying to take a molotov cocktail away from a baby and say, thats a real clash of style and ideas. Before the debate started, Chris Wallace gave us a preview of his moderation strategy, saying, my job is to be as invisible as possible. Chris, i could have told you trying to be invisible wouldnt help. Havent you seen the lord of the rings. I think my strongest may be by far is my temperament. Stephen now, before things even got started, the difference in the candidates was clear because everyone in bidens side of the hall was wearing a mask. Most of the people on trumps side, including his four children, were not wearing masks. And according to the Cleveland Clinic, it is a requirement that all guests wear masks. And thats not a medical requirement. The Cleveland Clinic just doesnt want to see erics mouth. Plus, youre not going to win over voters by killing them. Most polls show that voters do not respond well to their own deaths. Chris wallace opened by laying out the rules for the sparse audience. The audience here in the hall has promised to remain silent. Stephen and not just the republicans who have been cowards for the past four years. Even though the candidates did not shake hand, they did change pleasantries. applause how you doing, man . Stephen to which trump replied, im okay, how ar are u doing man, person, woman, camera, tv. It seems pretty clear from the beginning that trumps debate strategy was just to talk over everyone. Let me ask my question. Ill ask joe. The individual mandate was the most unpopular mr. President , mr. President , id like im the moderator of this debate and i would like you to can let me ask my question. Stephen and he just kept doing it all night. It reminded when Abraham Lincoln debated a leaf blower. Joe biden did get in some zingers. Mr. President , can you let him finish, sir . He doesnt know how to do that. Stephen to which melania responded, no you wouldnt. Eventually, biden had just had it. Well you shut up, man. Stephen no, no, he wont. Imagine if that worked its not great when you have to say the same thing to the president of the United States that you would shout at a friend who wont stop ranting about how van halen was actually a better band with sammy hagar. Biden tried to highlight just how bad trump has been on the coronavirus. And, by the way, maybe you could inject some bleach in your arm and that would take care of it. That was said sarcastically and you know that. Stephen it was sarcasm, just like my oath to hold up the constitution and my marriage vows. I guess im just too hip for the room. Then, then things got a little personal. A lot of people died, and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter a lot quicker. Mr. President. Did you use the word smart . Dont ever use the word smart with me. Dont ever use that word. Stephen i can imagine trump is not used to hearing that word around him very much. Wallace tried to paint the difference in the two candidates campaigning styles quirk. President trump, youre holding the large rallies with crowds packed together, thousands of people. Outside. Outside, yes, sir, agreed. Vice President Biden you are holding much smaller events. Why you holding the big rallies, why you not . Sephen we already know the big rallies are bad, chris. This is like asking, mr. President , youre tying ladies to the Railroad Tracks as the choochoo trains are coming. Mr. Biden, why did you go with the strategy not killing your supporters . He tried to explain that the rallies are a health risk. Hes not worried about you. No negative effect. Weve had 35, 40,000 people at these rally s. Stephen no negative effect from your rally positive upon thats an interesting point. Herman cane, your thoughts . Herman cane. Evidently were having connection issues with the great beyond. Now, trump lamented the damaging effects of the lockdoin. You look at whats going on with divorce. Stephen i mean eveere you look, there are wives saying to their husbands, donald the second youre out of office im leaving you and your unspeakable burger farts. War crime, she used the word war crime. Shes going to drag my ass. laughter come on. You have to find your happiness where you can. Trump bragged about how hes rescued the wide world of sports. Im the one that brought back football. Stephen to which the Cleveland Browns fans said, yeah, were good. Trump then tried to defend paying so little in taxes. Before i came here, i was a private developer. I was a private businesspeople. I was a private businesspeople. It was me and a bunch of mes that i made up for tax writeoffs. The people. Then joe, he just got fed up. You are the worst president america has ever had. Stephen come on now, mr. Vice president. Thats not fair. Hes also the worst president america will ever have. Trump tried to hit joe where it hurt his record. Ive done more in in 47 months, ive done more than you have done in 47 years, joe. Stephen i, you know,. Thats possible. Ive don but volume isnt everything. The nuclear bomb did more in hiroshima in one day than any politician did in history, but something tells me it might have cost truman the japanese vote. There was an interesting moment of civility from biden. Its hard to get anywhere word in with this clown excuse me. Stephen its a good thing joe corrected himself. He wouldnt want to lose the clown vote. Its also not accurate. If trump was a clown, he would have a much more professional face paint. Then Chris Wallace announced he was going to ask a question about race. Were going to go to the next segment. Im going to ask a question about race, but if you want to answer about something else, go ahead. Stephen Chris Wallace, restating americas official position on racism. Then we arrived at one of the most telling, one of the most upsetting moments not only of the night but of my lifetime, when the president of the United States was asked simply to condemn White Supremacy. Are you willing tonight to condemn White Supremacists and militia groups. Im willing to do anything. I want to see peace. Then do it, sir. Do it, say them. What do you want to call them . Give me a name. White supremacists and militia. Stand back and stand by. Stephen didnt do it. I dont support White Supremacists. I just command them. Like a dog. Thats why ive got this shiny dog whistle. Proud boys proud boys stand back. Sit. Whos a proud boy . Youre a proud boy. On foreign affairs, biden said trump wasnt an attack dog. He was a lap dog. Hes putins puppy. He still refuses to say anything to putin about the bounty on the heads of american soldiers. Stephen thats not true. Im not his puppy. Im his b. F. F. Trump explained the massive forest fires in california arent climate changes fault. The forest floors are loaded up with trees, dead trees that are years old, and theyre like tirnd. Stephen theyre like tirnd. You swipe right, you swipe left, either way, total smoke show, and they are d. T. F. Down to forest fire. After one particularly long trump spittlefilled blather, Chris Wallace tried to get things back on track. Mr. Vice president , answered his final question. The final question is i cant remember which of all his rantings. Im having a little trouble myself. Stephen its funny, because we are facing the most important election of our lifetimes and were letting the idiot who shouts the loudest decide what we talk about. Now, trump ended up ginning up fears about the next election. This is going to be a fraud like youve never seen. Stephen oh, i dont know, im looking at a pretty big one right now. When Chris Wallace asked trump if he would call on his voters to stay calm, instead trump made a frightening call to his followers. Im urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully. Stephen maybe go hang out there wearing your favorite brown shirt and just, you know, s. S. The situation. After an hour and a half of soulpulverizing menace, i feel like i did coming out of Star Wars Episode one the phantom menace how can we possibly do this two more times . Ultimately, i think the American People, they were hurt tonight. And it and if you look online, theyre angry. Because this is a serious moment. Where human lives and the future of this irreplaceable country is on the line. And i know that Chris Wallace says hes not a fact checker. But after one and a half hours of chaos and lies, i can say theres one statement tonight that was absolutely true. This is not going to end well. This is not going to end well. Stephen weve got a great show for you tonight. Later on well have a performance by public enemy. But when we return, ill get a debate reaction from senator cory booker. Stick around. Urn, ill get a debate reaction from senator cory booker. Stick around. Woo Vicks Vapocool drops now in honey lemon chill not much, how about you . Are you answering my text in person . I am, yeah. Lol come on in. This is tech that helps you be there. The Nissan Altima now offering the most techadvanced engine in its class now any order can be rewarding when you use the app. No matter how you pay, youll be closer to earning rewards and getting more of your favorites for free. More ways to pay, more ways to get rewarded. Starbucks rewards. More ways to get rewarded. Come on lets hide in the attic. No. In the basement. Why cant we just get in the running car . Are you crazy . Lets hide behind the chainsaws. Smart. Yeah. Ok. If youre in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. Its what you do. This was a good idea. Shhhh. Im being quiet. Youre breathing on me if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Lets go to the cemetery they do one of the most deven in normal times. S, our Frontline Health care workers. And when these heroes lack the resources they need, that risky job gets ten times harder. Prop fifteen makes corporations pay their fair share. To invest in our communities, in our clinics, in the essential workers who treat everyone rich, poor, and inbetween. Whether its this pandemic or the next health crisis, vote yes on prop fifteen. For all of us. All californians will be able to vote safely from home. Every active, registered voter will receive a votebymail ballot with a unique barcode. You can track it using wheres my ballot . And youll receive automatic notifications by text, email or voice call to let you know the status of your ballot once you mail it, drop it off at your polling place or at a drop box. Vote by mail ballots. Simple, safe, secure. Counted. Learn more at vote. Ca. Gov stephen hey, everybody. Welcome back to a late show, and our live broadcast following tonights president ial debate, i guess you could still call it. Lets say hello to our friend mr. Jon batiste. Jon, its good to see you. I dont want to be alone right now. Did you did you put yourself through watching that debate just no . Jon yes, i did. I had to do other things while it was playing because it was a visceral anger that i felt. And it takes a lot for me to feel worked up in that way. Stephen no, youre a very calm and reasonable person. It was it was embarrassing. Jon it was a tough and embarrassing moment for america. I just want to say, racism is a bad thing. Public service announcement. Stephen okay. Where do you find the courage, jon . I think i think i i think theres no greater softball in the world than, do you condemn White Supremacy . And he couldnt do it. Jon its right there. Its a debate. Youre trying to find a way to unite people, and this is the easiest thing. You just knock it out of the park. Stephen see, thats the difference. Hes not looking for a way to unite people. He wants to divide people because hes got no ideas to give to the United States of america. Only the divided states. Well, jon, i know its hard, but could you play something that matches the tone of what we just saw or something that is a counterpoint . Jon yes, a counterpoint, and we have to counterpoint it with the votes. Stephen thats right. Jon lets get out there. Stephen jon batiste, everybody. Thank you, jon. Jon thank you, stephen. Stephen joining me tonight is a senator from new jersey and former president ial candidate. Please welcome back to a late show, senator cory booker. Senator, im not entirely sure where to begin our discussion about what happened tonight. Can you can you sum it up . How would you describe what we just sat through . You know, i mean, it was painful. I think that if youre not hurting or worried after what we just watched, maybe you tuned in to the wrong thing. I mean, donald trump came with this obesity of aggression and just like a pugnacious posturing that was just not who we want to represent us. Its not representing the spirit of the heart of this country. And i respect a lot of what joe biden was trying to say and do during that election. He came far more president ial, frankly. But donald trump to see a fox news commentator have to try to constantly wrestle with the president of the United States just so joe biden would have time to speak. It was embarrassing to our country. And yet another example of how Donald Trumps heart is so discordant with i think with what the heart of america is all about and what the spirit of this country is about. It was hard. It was painful, stephen. Stephen i think youre right. I think people out there who saw that and i imagine the first debate is usually the one that gets watched the most i think people were in pain to watch that because, i was just saying to our friend jon batiste, it was absolutely embarrassing for america to see that. Seeing the president of the United States not being able to shut up for just two minutes. I dont want to say shut up. Just be quiet and allow someone to speak for two minutes. It seemed clear because he knew his ideas could not win. He he could only win through well, through domination or aggression. Yeah stephen how do you think biden did . Well, first of all, theres a sense with donald trump its almost like putin doesnt have to go through these things. Why do i even have to be here . And im just going to try to bully and dominate the night. What i liked about joe biden is he kept trying to turn it away from the two men on the stage and back to the American People. At one point, he did this impassionate plea, this is not about us. This is about you. This is about you. And trying to keep it on the people and people that are hurting. I mean, look, we are in a moment in america where addiction is up, Life Expectancy is down, suicides are up, our disparities in wealth are greater than theyve been in generations. We are at a time where our economy is is doubledigit unemployment. I mean, there are so many things people are struggling to. And donald trump tried to keep saying that everything is greater than its ever been. And as he says, hes the best president we ever had. And so, i just appreciate of appreciate that the patience that we saw within joe biden in trying to continue to bring the subject back to the American People and to what was going on, despite donald trump, who just said things that left me gobsmacked, making claims that were wildly wrong, that he creates 700,000 manufacturing jobs when the fact is weve lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs under his watch. Constantly putting out things that are not true. I think the most hurtful moment for me, for joe, a guy that ive gotten to know well is when he talked about the sacrifice of his son, you know, the son, beau, that died, that served honorably in the military, and donald trump didnt even didnt even pause