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Liberal media outlets need to calm down about the Colbert/Trump interview

Just a couple nights ago, GOP front-runner Donald Trump was the lead guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Fairly or unfairly, perhaps due to the previous night's interview with Texas Senator Ted Cruz as well as Colbert's seemingly constant array of jokes at the expense of Mr. Trump, a great deal of hype surrounded this interview. When all was said and done, it seems most liberal media outlets were disappointed with Colbert and felt that Trump got the better of him, whatever that means.

The most critical such article I've read to this point was written by Megan Garber of The Atlantic, entitled, "The Colbert Trump: The leading GOP candidate appeared as a guest on The Late Show last night. He beat Colbert at his own game."

Ms. Garber's article stars with this paragraph:

"Last night, Donald Trump appeared as a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. You could also say that Colbert had Trump as a guest, but that grammar wouldn't be quite accurate to the spirit of the interview. Because, last night, Colbert was trumped."

She also wrote this:

"It was a great night for Trump. It was a considerably less-great night for Colbert. Coming off of his tough interview with Cruz the night before, the host was repeatedly bested by his guest. The grammar was all off, with Trump as the subject, and Colbert as, repeatedly, the object. Was he intimidated by Trump? Was he reprimanded for the harshness of the conversation with Cruz? Did he simply not take Trump seriously as a contender for the highest office in the land?"

I seriously think Ms. Garber and other liberal media personalities need to calm down about this interview. Since when did we debate about who won in an interview on a late night talk show? "Who got the best of who? Was it David Letterman or Bill O'Reilly?" "I think Jay Leno got the better of John Kerry tonight, don't you?" "You know, Rachel Maddow really went toe-to-toe with Jimmy Fallon this evening." The fact of the matter is, unlike any other candidates in the race, Donald Trump is a showman. The guy has experience in the entertainment industry, so both he and Colbert were on fairly equal footing entering the interview and exiting it as far as I'm concerned.

Also, what did these media personalities want Colbert to get Trump to say? Trump's already said some of the most offensive and outlandish things any politician running for president has ever uttered. Let's look back at a few of Trump's quotes from this campaign season:

- "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

- "He's not a war hero (John McCain). He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."

- "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes (Megyn Kelly). Blood coming out of her wherever."

- "Look at that face (Carly Fiorina). Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?"

Stephen Colbert couldn't bait Donald Trump to utter such offensive commentary like he could with other candidates because Trump's already proudly uttered them for the world to hear! Also, let's not get carried away and pretend Trump got through this interview scot-free. Colbert made him sound even more ridiculous than he had previously with regard to his "big beautiful wall" idea between here and Mexico. He also provided Trump a softball question with regard to President Obama being born in the United States and whether or not Trump believed it, and in my opinion, he looked pretty bad in not responding to the easy question. Lastly, while it was a fun segment, Colbert did force Trump to admit a few ridiculous quotes of his at the tail-end of the interview.

Lastly, whether we want to admit it or not, unlike Ted Cruz, Donald Trump is the current GOP front-runner. The chances are far greater Trump will be in the race a few months from now than Cruz, which means the chances are greater Colbert will have him on the show again than Cruz. It can be pretty much guaranteed Colbert will utter one Donald Trump joke every night, yet he has to find some semblance of balance when Trump is his guest, for while it seems fairly obvious the Late Show host isn't a big fan of the GOP front-runner, he also doesn't want to piss him off to the point he never returns as a guest on his show. So, please, let's all calm down about this interview. There are over 13 months until the election. Trust me; there will be plenty more jokes thrown Donald Trump's way courtesy of Stephen Colbert (and many others).

http://www.refinery29.com/2015/08/91867/donald-trump-offensive-quotes#slide

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/the-colbert-trump/406891/

http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-john-mccain-war-hero-2015-7

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/08/politics/donald-trump-cnn-megyn-kelly-comment/

http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-carly-fiorina-face-insult-2015-9

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