--- title: Colbert Considers Trump's Approach to Black History Month description: Stephen Colbert took to his 'Late Show' to compare the different approaches Beyoncé and the president used to kick off Black History Month. canonical: https://time.com/4657888/stephen-colbert-on-trump-black-history/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-02T16:22:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:43.294Z og:title: Colbert Mocks Trump's Black History Month Speech og:description: "Hearing a lot more about this Fred Douglas guy" og:url: https://time.com/4657888/stephen-colbert-on-trump-black-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Colbert Mocks Trump's Black History Month Speech twitter:description: "Hearing a lot more about this Fred Douglas guy" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stephen Colbert Ridicules Trump's Black History Month Speech  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 2, 2017 4:22 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 2, 2017 4:22 PM UTC February [is Black History Month in the U.S.](http://time.com/4653941/black-history-month-museum/?iid=sr-link3), a time many public figures are celebrating. So of course President Donald Trump and Beyoncé each marked the occasion, and Stephen Colbert had fun comparing the two on _The Late Show_. “Today, Black History Month started the way they all should: with an announcement that [Beyoncé is pregnant](http://time.com/4656949/beyonces-birth-announcement-internet-reactions/?iid=sr-link4),” the host deadpanned, noting that the pop star decided to share the news by “showing us her baby bump at what appears to be a very open-minded Sears portrait studio,” in an [already-iconic Instagram photo](http://time.com/4657555/beyonce-pregnant-photo-instagram/?iid=sr-link2). (It’s Instagram’s most-liked image of all time.) Then he moved on to the president, who is “a rainbow coalition from the neck up,” he said. “He held a press conference to honor the two black luminaries he knows, Ben Carson and [Omarosa,](http://time.com/4281934/donald-trump-tv-supporters-katrina-pierson-omarosa-jeffrey-lord/?iid=sr-link2)” Colbert joked. (Carson is the [newly appointed](http://time.com/4632725/ben-carson-donald-trump-hud-confirmation-hearing/?iid=sr-link9) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, while Omarosa Manigault was the [Trump campaign’s director](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/03/omarosa-manigault-joining-trumps-white-house-staff-to-focus-on-public-engagement-ap.html) for African-American outreach; the two were seated on either side of Trump.) Colbert also lambasted Trump for listing off other African-American icons, including Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks, seemingly at random. “Hearing a lot more about this [Fred Douglass guy](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1841228%5F1841749%5F1841739,00.html?iid=sr-link1). You know Fred Douglass, John? Is he a rapper or something like that? He’s not the Fred Prince of Bel Air?” Watch the full clip, above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4657888/stephen-colbert-on-trump-black-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4657888/stephen-colbert-on-trump-black-history/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Ridicules Trump's Black History Month Speech","datePublished":"2017-02-02T16:22:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:43.294Z","description":"\"Hearing a lot more about this Fred Douglas guy\"","url":"https://time.com/4657888/stephen-colbert-on-trump-black-history/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Television","celebrities","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4657888/stephen-colbert-on-trump-black-history/","name":"Stephen Colbert Ridicules Trump's Black History Month Speech"}}]}] ```