CBS’s Stephen Colbert is taping his late-night talk show this week in Chicago, the host city of the DNC. On Tuesday night, Colbert’s interview with Democratic Congresswoman and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was interrupted by protests in the audience. At one point, an audience member could be heard yelling, “Free Palestine!”
Colbert stopped to acknowledge there was a protest in the crowd, saying, “There’s a protest going on right now. We’re going to go to commercial break but the subject is on Israel and Palestine and, if you’ll have a seat, we have to go to the commercial break, but when we come back I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject.”
What happened next was a master class by Colbert.
While on air, protesters continued to yell, especially after Pelosi said, “War has no role in a civilized society.”
Colbert then said to Pelosi, “As you can see from the continuing protests out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people because they believe that the United States …”
As those in the audience continued to yell, Colbert looked at them and, without emotion, simply said, “Hold on one second” and then asked Pelosi if she would like to respond.
It certainly sounded chaotic. Pelosi said she couldn’t understand what the audience was saying. So Colbert passed along what was being said: “They’ve said the United States should not have any role in supplying Israel arms to kill the people of Gaza. That’s what they’re saying.”
The audience then applauded Colbert. Pelosi’s answer included saying, “Israel has a right to defend itself. And the hostages should be returned, but the other part of it that has been so major for all of us for many years is that there must be a two-state solution. You cannot have peace unless you have two states. Israel, a secure, democratic, Jewish state in the region and the Palestinians having their own secure country there as well.”
That didn’t stop the yelling, and Colbert, ever respectful, tried to maintain some semblance of control, but did say, “Please don’t interrupt my guest.”
Pelosi tried to lighten the mood by the end, saying, “Isn’t it great to be in Chicago?”
But back to Colbert. He treated Pelosi with respect. He treated the audience members with respect. And while he didn’t maintain absolute control, he did well enough that the show didn’t flip over the guardrail. Most importantly, everyone walked away with their dignity.
Mediaite’s Zachary Leeman has more, including video.
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