Stephen Colbert almost praised Trump's Barcelona tweet — until the pig's blood reference
Days after President Trump made widely criticized comments on the violence in Charlottesville saying "both sides" were to blame, he pleasantly surprised Stephen Colbert with his tweet to the people of Barcelona Thursday.
And Colbert praised him for it at the top of Thursday's Late Show, saying, "Thank you, sir. Simple, dignified, presidential. That's what you want. That's what you hope for."
He continued, "I was sincerely happy to see that kind of moral leadership from our president ... For about 45 minutes."
Trump followed his first supportive tweet with another, suggesting that Spain should "study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught."
Some background: Pershing fought Muslim insurgents in the Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century.
At a February 2016 campaign rally in Charleston, S.C, Trump told a crowd that the general "took 50 bullets and he dipped them in pig's blood," and shot 49 of 50 terrorists. "And to the 50th person, he said, 'You go back to your people and you tell them what happened. And for 25 years, there wasn't a problem."
The bizarre story is "ridiculous" according to historians, per Politifact, which rated Trump's claim as totally false.
Coming out of the clip, Colbert noted, "That is a dark story. No wonder his kids turned out the way they did."
Imagining a bedtime story at Trump Tower, he said, "And then the big bad wolf slaughtered two of the three little pigs. And he told the third, 'You, piggy, you go back to the sty and you tell your buddies, 'No more brick houses!' Anyway, goodnight, Eric!"
Trump's point, the comedian noted, was the need to be tough like in the old days.
The problem: "The story is not true. It's been called a 'poorly sourced yarn.' Poorly sourced yarn, by the way? Also what Ivanka uses in her clothing line."
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