--- title: Stephen Colbert: No One Calls Trump a Moron Except Me description: On the Late Show Wednesday night, Stephen Colbert took on rumors that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called President Trump a "moron" canonical: https://time.com/4970357/stephen-colbert-to-rex-tillerson-nobody-calls-our-president-a-moron-except-me/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-05T11:54:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:44:44.319Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Stephen Colbert: No One Calls Trump a Moron Except Me og:description: "Hold on there, Tillerson. Nobody calls our president a moron except me." og:url: https://time.com/4970357/stephen-colbert-to-rex-tillerson-nobody-calls-our-president-a-moron-except-me/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt139e40d81fe19710/6988e09f656a3fd014bd1f7f/gettyimages-853672102.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert: No One Calls Trump a Moron Except Me twitter:description: "Hold on there, Tillerson. Nobody calls our president a moron except me." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt139e40d81fe19710/6988e09f656a3fd014bd1f7f/gettyimages-853672102.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Colbert to Rex Tillerson: ‘Nobody Calls Our President a Moron Except Me’ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Oct 5, 2017 11:54 AM UTC  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday's September 21, 2017 show. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday's September 21, 2017 show.Photo by Scott Kowalchyk—CBS/Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Oct 5, 2017 11:54 AM UTC In his _Late Show_ opening monologue Wednesday night, host Stephen Colbert took on rumors that [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson](http://time.com/4968932/rex-tillerson-secretary-state-trump-moron/) called President Donald Trump a “moron,” and seemed to take Trump’s side. “Hold on there, Rex. Hold on there, Tillerson. Nobody calls our president a moron except me,” Colbert said. However, he quickly opened up the ability to call Trump a moron, adding, “And other world leaders. And, ultimately, history.” Colbert also called the comment “vicious” and “accurate.” But even though Colbert asserted that Tillerson shouldn’t call Trump a moron, he continued to go after the President himself throughout the monologue and joked about his tweets regarding the incident. [NBC News reported ](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451)that Tillerson called Trump a moron after his [controversial speech at the Boy Scouts Jamboree.](http://time.com/4876705/donald-trump-boy-scout-jamboree-speech/) The Secretary of State denied the claim in press conference after the report. The tongue-in-cheek defense of Trump was reminiscent of his saying that North Korea shouldn’t [call the President a “dotard”](http://time.com/4952750/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-dotard-north-korea/) because only he could. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4970357/stephen-colbert-to-rex-tillerson-nobody-calls-our-president-a-moron-except-me/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4970357/stephen-colbert-to-rex-tillerson-nobody-calls-our-president-a-moron-except-me/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert to Rex Tillerson: ‘Nobody Calls Our President a Moron Except Me’","datePublished":"2017-10-05T11:54:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:44:44.319Z","description":"\"Hold on there, Tillerson. 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