The Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s first official State of the Union address just got some stiff competition.
Stephen Colbert, who has ridden sharp criticism of the current administration to a series of ratings wins for his “Late Night” talk show, will broadcast live following Trump’s Jan. 30 address to Congress and the nation, it was announced Thursday.
Helping Colbert parse the president’s proclamations will be a group of popular podcasters: Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor of “Pod Save America” and Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson of WNYC’s “2 Dope Queens.”
Favreau, Lovett and Vietor are former Obama administration officials who formed their Crooked Media company and podcasting network in the wake of Trump’s upset victory. In the process they may have stumbled onto the liberal answer to conservative talk radio, according to a recent profile in The New York Times Magazine.
Williams cut her political satire teeth on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in its heyday. Pairing her and Lovett, who helped craft Obama’s skewing of Trump at the 2011 White House correspondent’s dinner, should lead to some very funny live television.
Grammy-winning country star Chris Stapleton will be the evening’s musical guest.
The late night host also made headlines Wednesday after having “Melania Trump” on as guest: aka actress and sometime first lady spoof Laura Benanti. “Melania” attempted to clarify a few things in Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” book — among other them, that her tears on election night were “tears of happiness.”
