Last night, lean finely textured beef (AKA "pink slime") gained a dubious new ally: Stephen Colbert.
The jokester used his "Colbert Report" soapbox to defend the beef product in a hilarious way. (The clip is embedded above.) After recapping the story, with a focus on a much-ballyhooed ABC News report on the pervasiveness of pink slime, he turns his attention to the heroic defense of a group of governors of midwestern states, including Rick Perry of Texas. He describes these men as "the Beefstate Governors."
Colbert argues that the Beefstate Governors' defense of "pink slime" is actually too mild. He says he thinks we should embrace "lean finely textured beef" for the slime it is. He picks up on a t-shirt touted by Rick Perry that reads "Dude It's Beef," and counters with his own, inscribed with the slogan "Bro It's Slime."
The biggest laughs of the night, though, responded to Colbert's riff on the acronym "LFTB," which some in the beef industry have suggested as a more palatable alternative to "pink slime."
"Yes, LFTB," he says. "Because our beef now has so many hormones, it's a member of the transgender community."
Watch the full segment above.