Stephen Colbert says the national crush on handsome felon Jeremy Meeks proves that America’s incarcerated badly need to be better-looking.
Colbert noted on Tuesday’s “Colbert Report” that Meeks, whose striking mug shot last week made him an instant internet meme, may be able to secure modeling gigs to escape a life of crime. If only the same could be said for other defendants.
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“One out of every 18 men in this country is incarcerated,” Colbert said. “When you look at all the young lives trapped in a cycle of poverty violence and imprisonment, you start to realize: Maybe it’s because they’re total uggos.”
Police say Meeks was stopped at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. When they searched a car he was driving, which had two passengers, the officers found a 9-millimeter round and a loaded semiautomatic handgun, along with two extended magazines for the gun, authorities said. (California’s San Joaquin County district attorney’s office listed the allegations on its Facebook page, getting into the whole viral spirit of the story.)
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Meeks, who previously served two years in prison for a 2002 grand theft conviction, faces charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, along with other firearm and gang-related charges.
But Colbert hopes Meeks’ troubles with the law are soon to be over. Meeks’ supporters are already Photoshopping him into ads for high-end fashion lines.
“Jeremy Meeks proves that our prisons don’t need reforms. They need makeovers,” Colbert said.
Watch the video: