'Brace Yourself': Stephen Colbert Spots Trump Moment That Quickly 'Went Off The Rails'
Trump was supposed to discuss new investments in AI and energy, but then derailed himself with a long, strange ramble about his uncle, John Trump, who was a professor at MIT.
The president boasted that his uncle was 'one of the great professors, 51 years, whatever, longest-serving professor in the history of MIT, three degrees in nuclear, chemical, and math.'
'Brace yourself,' Colbert warned his audience after playing the clip. 'None of that was true.'
Trump's uncle was not the longest-serving professor at MIT. He had one degree, not three, and it was in electrical engineering not 'nuclear, chemical, and math.'
Trump also said his uncle taught Ted Kaczynski, the 'Unabomber' terrorist who killed people via mail bombs. The president told a whole story about asking his uncle what kind of student Kaczynski was.
His uncle, Trump claimed, told him that the future Unabomber was 'seriously good' and would correct the other students' work.
'None of that is true either,' Colbert said.
Kaczynski went to Harvard, not MIT.
'Even more insane,' Colbert said, Trump's uncle died more than a decade before Kaczynski was ID'ed and arrested.
'So why on Earth would Trump have asked his uncle about him?' Colbert wondered, then broke out his impression of the president to envision how it might have happened.
'Hey, Uncle John, Uncle Professor Dr. John Trump, professor, sir, uncle. You know that random guy who isn't famous at all and lives in the woods and machines his own screws?' Colbert asked in his Trump voice. 'What was it like when you didn't teach him?'
See more in his Wednesday night monologue:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
16 Red States Where Energy Costs Could Go Up the Most Under Trump's ‘One Big Beautiful Bill'
President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' (OBBB) was signed into law on July 4. The final legislation has significant repercussions for energy. It includes policies that will increase oil and gas leasing and repeal clean energy tax credits. Wholesale electricity prices are expected to increase 25% by 2030 and 74% by 2035. Electricity rates paid by consumers are expected to increase between 9% and 18% and household energy costs are anticipated to go up $170 annually by 2035. Find Out: Read Next: Red states could be hit harder by rising energy costs than blue states chiefly because Republican-led states generally don't have their own policies to develop renewable energy in the way that Democrat-led states do. A new analysis by the Energy Innovation Policy & Technology, LLC found the 16 red states that will see the biggest annual increases to household energy costs by 2035 as a result of the OBBB. 16. Wisconsin Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$300 Learn More: 12. Utah Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$320 12. Nevada Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$320 12. Michigan Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$320 12. Indiana Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$340 11. Iowa Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$350 10. Kansas Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$380 8. Florida Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$430 8. Arkansas Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$430 7. Louisiana Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$440 6. Texas Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$480 5. North Carolina Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$490 4. Oklahoma Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$540 2. South Carolina Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$630 2. Kentucky Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$630 1. Missouri Annual energy cost increase per household by 2035: +$640 More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 The 10 Most Reliable SUVs of 2025 6 Popular SUVs That Aren't Worth the Cost -- and 6 Affordable Alternatives This article originally appeared on 16 Red States Where Energy Costs Could Go Up the Most Under Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill'
Politico
21 minutes ago
- Politico
Exit polls show Japan's ruling coalition likely to lose key election
That is a big retreat from the 141 seats they had pre-election, but media surveys predict big setbacks for Ishiba. Exit poll results released seconds after the ballots closed Sunday night mostly showed a major setback for Ishiba's coalition. Japan's NHK television projected a range of 32-51 seats for the prime minister's coalition, while other networks projected it would win just over 40 seats. A poor performance in the election would not immediately trigger a change of government because the upper house lacks the power to file a no-confidence motion against a leader, but it would certainly deepen uncertainty over his fate and Japan's political stability. Ishiba would face calls from within the LDP party to step down or find another coalition partner. Soaring prices, lagging incomes and burdensome social security payments are the top issues for frustrated, cash-strapped voters. Stricter measures targeting foreign residents and visitors have also emerged as a key issue, with a surging right-wing populist party leading the campaign. Sunday's vote comes after Ishiba's coalition lost a majority in the October lower house election, stung by past corruption scandals, and his unpopular government has since been forced into making concessions to the opposition to get legislation through parliament. It has been unable to quickly deliver effective measures to mitigate rising prices, including Japan's traditional staple of rice, and dwindling wages. President Donald Trump has added to the pressure, complaining about a lack of progress in trade negotiations and the lack of sales of U.S. autos and American-grown rice to Japan despite a shortfall in domestic stocks of the grain. A 25% tariff due to take effect Aug. 1 has been another blow for Ishiba. Ishiba has resisted any compromise before the election, but the prospect for a breakthrough after the election is just as unclear because the minority government would have difficulty forming a consensus with the opposition. Frustrated voters are rapidly turning to emerging populist parties. The eight main opposition groups, however, are too fractured to forge a common platform as a united front and gain voter support as a viable alternative. The emerging populist party Sanseito stands out with the toughest anti-foreigner stance, with its 'Japanese First' platform that proposes a new agency to handle policies related to foreigners. The party's populist platform also includes anti-vaccine, anti-globalism and favors traditional gender roles.
San Francisco Chronicle
21 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Volunteers flock to immigration courts to support migrants arrested in the hallways
SEATTLE (AP) — After a Seattle immigration judge dismissed the deportation case against a Colombian man — exposing him to expedited removal — three people sat with him in the back of the courtroom, taking his car keys for safe-keeping, helping him memorize phone numbers and gathering the names of family members who needed to be notified. When Judge Brett Parchert asked why they were doing that in court, the volunteers said Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers were outside the door, waiting to take the man into custody, so this was their only chance to help him get his things in order. "ICE is in the waiting room?" the judge asked. As the mass deportation campaign of President Donald Trump focuses on cities and states led by Democrats and unleashes fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants, their legal defenders sued this week, seeking class-action protections against the arrests outside immigration court hearings. Meanwhile, these volunteers are taking action. A diverse group — faith leaders, college students, grandmothers, retired lawyers and professors — has been showing up at immigration courts across the nation to escort immigrants at risk of being detained for deportation by masked ICE officials. They're giving families moral and logistical support, and bearing witness as the people are taken away. The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project was inundated by so many community members wanting to help that they made a volunteer training video, created 'Know Your Rights' sheets in several languages and started a Google sheet where people sign up for shifts, said Stephanie Gai, a staff attorney with the Seattle-based legal services non-profit. 'We could not do it without them," Gai said. 'Some volunteers request time off work so they can come in and help.' Robby Rohr, a retired non-profit director said she volunteers regularly. 'Being here makes people feel they are remembered and recognized,' she said 'It's such a bureaucratic and confusing process. We try to help them through it.' Recording videos of detentions to post online online Volunteers and legal aid groups have long provided free legal orientation in immigration court but the arrests have posed new challenges. Since May, the government has been asking judges to dismiss deportation cases. Once the judge agrees, ICE officials arrest them in the hallways and put them in fast-track deportation proceedings, no matter which legal immigration pathway they may have been pursuing. Once in custody, it's often harder to find or afford a lawyer. Immigration judges are executive branch employees, and while some have resisted Homeland Security lawyers' dismissal orders in some cases, many are granted. Masked ICE agents grabbed the Colombian man and led him into the hallway. A volunteer took his backpack to give to his family as he was taken away. Other cases on the day's docket involved immigrants who didn't show up. Parchert granted 'removal in absentia' orders, enabling ICE to arrest them later. When asked about these arrests and the volunteers at immigration courts, a senior spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security said ICE is once again implementing the rule of law by reversing 'Biden's catch and release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets." Some volunteers have recorded arrests in courtroom hallways, traumatic scenes that are proliferating online. How many similar scenes are happening nationwide remains unclear. The Executive Office for Immigration Review has not released numbers of cases dismissed or arrests made at or near immigration courts. While most volunteers have done this work without incident, some have been arrested for interfering with ICE agents. New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested after locking arms with a person in a failed attempt to prevent his detention. Lander's wife, attorney Meg Barnette, had just joined him in walking migrants from a courtroom to the elevator. Helping families find their relatives as they disappear The volunteers' act of witnessing has proven to be important as people disappear into a detention system that can seem chaotic, leaving families without any information about their whereabouts for days on end. In a waiting room serving New York City immigration courtrooms, a Spanish-speaking woman with long dark curly hair was sitting anxiously with her daughter after she and her husband had separate hearings. Now he was nowhere to be found. The Rev. Fabián Arias, a volunteer court observer, said the woman whose first name is Alva approached him asking 'Where is my husband?' She showed him his photo. 'ICE detained him,' Arias told her, and tried to comfort her as she trembled, later welling up with tears. A judge had not dismissed the husband's case, giving him until October to find a lawyer. But that didn't stop ICE agents from handcuffing him and taking him away as soon as he stepped out of court. The news sparked an outcry by immigration advocates, city officials and a congressman. At a news conference, she gave only her first name and asked that her daughter's be withheld. Brianna Garcia, a college student in El Paso, Texas, said she's been attending immigration court hearings for weeks where she informs people of their rights and then records ICE agents taking people into custody. 'We escort people so they're not harassed and help people memorize important phone numbers, since their belongings are confiscated by ICE," she said. Paris Thomas began volunteering at the Denver immigration court after hearing about the effort through a network of churches. Wearing a straw hat, he recently waited in the midday heat for people to arrive for afternoon hearings. Thomas handed people a small paper flyer listing their rights in Spanish on one side and English on the other. One man walking with a woman told him 'thank you. Thank you.' Another man gave him a hug. Denver volunteer Don Marsh said they offer to walk people to their cars after court appearances, so they can contact attorneys and family if ICE arrests them. Marsh said he's never done anything like this before, but wants to do something to preserve the nation's 'rule of law' now that unidentifiable government agents are 'snatching' people off the streets. 'If we're not all safe, no one's safe,' he said. __
