Stephen Colbert Tells Trump Why Coronavirus Is 'Spanking Your Ass'

Stephen Colbert accused President Donald Trump of turning the fight against the coronavirus into a “distractathon.”

In the face of mounting evidence that Trump’s “botched and delayed” response has hampered the country’s ability to battle the pandemic, the president has sought to “change the subject,” Colbert said on the “Late Show” Wednesday.

The host held up Trump’s executive order to ban immigration, his threat to “shoot down” Iranian gunboats if they harass U.S. ships, and his thumbs-up for protesters objecting to states’ shelter-in-place orders as examples.

Citing a poll that showed two-thirds of Americans believe Trump was too slow to respond to the virus, the comedian said Trump’s attempt to alter the narrative “is not going to work.”

“You can tweet all you want, but it’s hard to capture people’s hearts and minds when they’re worried about their hearts and lungs,” Colbert said. “You can’t have Bill Barr redact the virus. ... You can’t even pay the virus $130,000 to stay quiet, which is too bad because this virus is definitely spanking your ass. ”

“So if you want to keep your job,” he added, “you’re going to have to do the unthinkable: your job.”