Stephen Colbert went right after President Donald Trump during his opening monologue Sunday night at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards.
“We know that the biggest TV star of the last year is Donald Trump. Yeah. No, you may not like it, but he’s the biggest star,” the Emmys host explained. “You know, and Alec Baldwin, obviously.”
“However you feel about the president, and you do feel about the president, you can’t deny that every show was influenced by Donald Trump in some way,” he added. “All the late night shows, obviously, ‘House of Cards,’ the new season of ‘American Horror Story,’ and of course next year’s Latin Grammy’s hosted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.”
“And we all know the Emmys mean a lot to Donald Trump, because he was nominated multiple times for ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ but he never won,” he continued. “Why didn’t you give him an Emmy? I tell you this, if he had won an Emmy, I bet he wouldn’t have run for president. So, in a way this is all your fault.”
“I thought you people loved morally compromised anti-heroes. You like Walter White. He’s just Walter much whiter. And he never forgave you and he never will,” Colbert said. “The president has complained repeatedly that the Emmys are rigged. But he didn’t [win], because unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winner of the popular vote.”
“Of course what really matters to Donald Trump is ratings,” he added. “You got to have the big numbers, and I certainly hope we achieved that tonight. Unfortunately, at this point we have no way of knowing how big our audience is. I mean, is there anyone who can say how big our audience is? Sean, do you know?”
At that moment, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer wheeled out on a podium and mocked the press conference he gave about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration.
“This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period,” Spicer told the crowd. “Both in person and around the world.”
“Wow, that really soothes my fragile ego,” Colbert replied. “I can understand why you would want one of these guys around.”