Stephen Colbert thinks Ohio senate candidate JD Vance might have some serious competition — but not so much in his bid to become senator. No, Colbert joked on Tuesday night’s “Late Show” that Vance will have to edge out Lindsey Graham if he truly wants to suck up to Donald Trump.
With midterm elections just four weeks away, Colbert opted to use part of his monologue to check in on some of the races (including a race between bears, one of which is apparently named for him). Among those races is the Ohio senate race, in which voters have to choose between Democrat Tim Ryan and “Republican venture capitalist and baby you glued a beard on for Halloween” JD Vance.
Vance has been embraced by the Right, even getting twice impeached former president Trump to speak at his campaign events. Colbert even called up footage of Trump’s “ringing endorsement” of Vance from last month, in which Trump told a rally crowd that “JD is kissing my ass he wants my support so much!”
“JD, if you wanna do that, you’re gonna have to squeeze in next to Lindsey Graham,” Colbert mocked. “Because those two, those two are like a couple of puppies fighting over a teat.” (Naturally, the late night host also mimed how that fight probably looks, which you can see in the video above).
Colbert had some good news for the politicians though. “Luckily, there’s plenty of ass to go around,” he joked. The late night host then turned his attention to Vance’s opponent, Democrat Tim Ryan.
During a debate on Tuesday, Ryan scorned Vance heavily for being someone “can’t stand up to anybody,” and calling out Trump’s comment. “Ohio needs an ass kicker, not an ass kisser,” Ryan said during his remarks. And of course, Colbert was tickled by that particular sound byte.
“Well said. Well said, Tim Ryan!” Colbert praised. “And the important thing is, whoever wins, Ohio’s senator will do something with an ass.”
At the end of the day though, Colbert argued that “No one made JD Vance look more out of touch than JD Vance,” and proceeded to mock Vance’s own debate choices. You can watch the full segment in the video above.