Extract from The Guardian
Bolton’s book The Room Where it Happened, which the Trump administration has unsuccessfully attempted to block from publication, contains a number of revelations about Trump’s fascination with autocrats that are “shocking” but “really shouldn’t be shocking because they’re so true to form for Donald Trump,” Colbert said.
Colbert wondered why Bolton, a war hawk who has served in numerous
Republican administrations, would work for Trump. “You didn’t have to go
into government and you didn’t have to go into the Trump
administration,” he said. “Why did you go in knowing how chaotic it was?
Did you think that chaos was a ladder that you could climb?”
Bolton answered that he “certainly heard all the stories” but spoke with Trump before he took office and “entered aware of the problems but optimistic that they could be overcome”.
Asked by Colbert about what long-time Republicans in government are saying behind closed doors, Bolton said that “in fairness to Trump,” many conservatives see the comparison with Joe Biden, “as I did in 2016 with Hillary Clinton,” and say, “whatever we think of him, he’s not going to be a Democrat subject, especially these days, to the pressure of the left.”
Colbert laughed at the “pressure from the left” idea and interjected:
“No, he’s going to be subject to the pressure of Vladimir Putin and Xi
Jinping!
“He’s a person who’s going to sell out the interests of the American people for his own re-election. What could be worse in Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden’s philosophy than betraying your own country to a hostile foreign leader, sir?”
“Trust me, I understand that point,” Bolton stuttered before Colbert shot back: “But will you answer that question?”
Bolton explained that his view of Trump in 2016 was “we at least have to try it out” – which is why he voted for him.
But “having experienced 17 months of working with him, I can’t in good conscience do that again.” Bolton again confirmed, as he has previously, that he would not vote for either Trump or Biden in November.
“I guess what’s exasperating is there is absolutely nothing that Donald Trump has done that is surprising to me,” Colbert responded. “My rule is, everything you think about Donald Trump is probably true. Because he’s not deep enough to get your socks wet in. He’s incredibly readable,” which is why when he ran casinos, “the house lost” – a comment which drew a laugh from Bolton.
But Bolton’s smile darkened as Colbert continued: “There’s nothing to learn about him. He’s essentially a boring person. How did you not know beforehand that he was just callow?”
“Because I couldn’t believe it was that bad,” Bolton replied. “And I know other people say they saw it from the beginning – ”
Colbert cut him off, laughing again, and asked: “But you’re an international negotiator, how could you be naive? You’ve dealt with the worst people in the world.”
“You’ve really insulted me now by calling me naive,” Bolton replied.
“I thought it was possible to work with somebody,” he said of Trump, because “surely they would want to learn about the complexities of arms control negotiations and that sort of thing. As I detail in the book, that turned out not to be true.”
And on The Daily Show, Trevor Noah investigated systemic under-representation of black people in corporate America despite a flurry of Black Lives Matter solidarity tweets and posts from companies who clearly have some internal work to do. Nike, for example, ran an ad proclaiming, “Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America,” though all of the company’s executives are white.
“If you are just some random person who has like ten followers on Twitter and you tweet Black Lives Matter, maybe that’s the best you can do,” said Noah. “But if you’re a major corporation that hires thousands of people, you can actually show that black lives matter in a material way that goes beyond your social media feed.”
Noah thus investigated actual avenues for corporate accountability for anti-racism in a new segment called “\This Black American Life.
“Despite what your racist uncle says on Facebook, for many black Americans, getting a job is almost impossible,” Noah explained, starting with getting one’s foot in the door; as Pascal Desroches, chief financial officer at WarnerMedia, told CNN, white Americans are hired on potential while black Americans are hired on demonstrated accomplishment.
“That’s the thing I wish more people understood,” said Noah. “Black people are looking for equality, not charity. They’re not asking people to ‘hire black people’ just because they’re black, they’re asking companies to stop not hiring black people just because they’re black.”
If black employees do get a foot in the door, Noah continued, climbing the ladder is difficult – only 3.2% of corporate executives in America are black – and one’s challenges are compounded by micro-aggressions such as “you’re very articulate,” “you’re not like the others,” and hair-grabbing. Such thoughtlessness is “what you get from living in a segregated society,” said Noah.
“Instead of knowing black people and black culture, you’ve got white folks interacting with black people like they’re making contact with ET.”
Noah ended with a message to corporate America: “If you really believe in rooting out systemic racism and supporting black lives, then I say to you: examine your own actions within your companies before history leaves you behind. Or as I would put it if I wasn’t in the office: you better check yourself before you wreck yourself.”
The Late Show host presses Trump’s former adviser on his tell-all
book, and Trevor Noah asks corporate America to take Black Lives Matter
beyond tweets
Stephen Colbert
After criticizing John Bolton last week for holding his criticism of the Trump administration for a lucrative book deal, Stephen Colbert hammered Trump’s former national security adviser in an interview on Tuesday’s Late Show.Bolton’s book The Room Where it Happened, which the Trump administration has unsuccessfully attempted to block from publication, contains a number of revelations about Trump’s fascination with autocrats that are “shocking” but “really shouldn’t be shocking because they’re so true to form for Donald Trump,” Colbert said.
Bolton answered that he “certainly heard all the stories” but spoke with Trump before he took office and “entered aware of the problems but optimistic that they could be overcome”.
Asked by Colbert about what long-time Republicans in government are saying behind closed doors, Bolton said that “in fairness to Trump,” many conservatives see the comparison with Joe Biden, “as I did in 2016 with Hillary Clinton,” and say, “whatever we think of him, he’s not going to be a Democrat subject, especially these days, to the pressure of the left.”
“He’s a person who’s going to sell out the interests of the American people for his own re-election. What could be worse in Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden’s philosophy than betraying your own country to a hostile foreign leader, sir?”
“Trust me, I understand that point,” Bolton stuttered before Colbert shot back: “But will you answer that question?”
Bolton explained that his view of Trump in 2016 was “we at least have to try it out” – which is why he voted for him.
But “having experienced 17 months of working with him, I can’t in good conscience do that again.” Bolton again confirmed, as he has previously, that he would not vote for either Trump or Biden in November.
“I guess what’s exasperating is there is absolutely nothing that Donald Trump has done that is surprising to me,” Colbert responded. “My rule is, everything you think about Donald Trump is probably true. Because he’s not deep enough to get your socks wet in. He’s incredibly readable,” which is why when he ran casinos, “the house lost” – a comment which drew a laugh from Bolton.
But Bolton’s smile darkened as Colbert continued: “There’s nothing to learn about him. He’s essentially a boring person. How did you not know beforehand that he was just callow?”
“Because I couldn’t believe it was that bad,” Bolton replied. “And I know other people say they saw it from the beginning – ”
Colbert cut him off, laughing again, and asked: “But you’re an international negotiator, how could you be naive? You’ve dealt with the worst people in the world.”
“You’ve really insulted me now by calling me naive,” Bolton replied.
“I thought it was possible to work with somebody,” he said of Trump, because “surely they would want to learn about the complexities of arms control negotiations and that sort of thing. As I detail in the book, that turned out not to be true.”
Trevor Noah
And on The Daily Show, Trevor Noah investigated systemic under-representation of black people in corporate America despite a flurry of Black Lives Matter solidarity tweets and posts from companies who clearly have some internal work to do. Nike, for example, ran an ad proclaiming, “Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America,” though all of the company’s executives are white.
“If you are just some random person who has like ten followers on Twitter and you tweet Black Lives Matter, maybe that’s the best you can do,” said Noah. “But if you’re a major corporation that hires thousands of people, you can actually show that black lives matter in a material way that goes beyond your social media feed.”
Noah thus investigated actual avenues for corporate accountability for anti-racism in a new segment called “\This Black American Life.
“Despite what your racist uncle says on Facebook, for many black Americans, getting a job is almost impossible,” Noah explained, starting with getting one’s foot in the door; as Pascal Desroches, chief financial officer at WarnerMedia, told CNN, white Americans are hired on potential while black Americans are hired on demonstrated accomplishment.
“That’s the thing I wish more people understood,” said Noah. “Black people are looking for equality, not charity. They’re not asking people to ‘hire black people’ just because they’re black, they’re asking companies to stop not hiring black people just because they’re black.”
If black employees do get a foot in the door, Noah continued, climbing the ladder is difficult – only 3.2% of corporate executives in America are black – and one’s challenges are compounded by micro-aggressions such as “you’re very articulate,” “you’re not like the others,” and hair-grabbing. Such thoughtlessness is “what you get from living in a segregated society,” said Noah.
“Instead of knowing black people and black culture, you’ve got white folks interacting with black people like they’re making contact with ET.”
Noah ended with a message to corporate America: “If you really believe in rooting out systemic racism and supporting black lives, then I say to you: examine your own actions within your companies before history leaves you behind. Or as I would put it if I wasn’t in the office: you better check yourself before you wreck yourself.”
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