Late-night comedians were unsure how to react to the conclusion of President Trump’s historic summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, in which the two signed a joint statement that contains “diplomatic platitudes,” according to the New York Times.
“Among adversaries, this sort of statement is a common, low-pressure way to keep talks going. It doesn’t resolve any issues, but it keeps the countries engaged,” the Times reports.
Without much of a tangible takeaway to either praise or criticize, the comedians took different approaches to covering the meeting.
“We’ve all got to admit that we were wrong. We said the man couldn’t do it, we said his temper would blow up the summit — but yesterday he proved everyone wrong and turned the nuclear summit in Singapore into a huge win for himself,” The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah said. “So let’s swallow our pride and give it up for a leader who’s much smarter than we thought: Kim Jong-un, everybody!”
Conan O’Brien took a dig at who the president invites to the White House, saying: “President Trump said Kim Jong-un is ‘absolutely’ invited to the White House. Unless, of course, Kim Jong-un wins the Super Bowl or the N.B.A. championship.”
Stephen Colbert focused on a comment Trump made to a reporter about being impressed at how Kim rose to power and replaced his father when he was only 26.
“You don’t give dictators points for being young!” Colbert said. “That’s like saying, ‘You know, Vlad the Impaler became ruler at age 20. Nobody talks about that. Everyone gets all hung up on the impaling part, not how young he was. He was the Mozart of sticking wood through people!’”
Take a look at the clips below.
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