--- title: Stephen Colbert Responds to Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting description: Stephen Colbert has denounced Trump's response to the mass shooting that took the lives of 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue. canonical: https://time.com/5438911/stephen-colbert-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-30T15:13:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:43.699Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Slams Trump's Response to Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting og:description: "Hate is not what America stands for" og:url: https://time.com/5438911/stephen-colbert-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt324f60dc17503e6c/69893dc5ab6d77802a6b40a6/screen-shot-2018-10-30-at-10-34-54-am.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Stephen-Colbert-Pittsburgh-Synagogue-Shooting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Slams Trump's Response to Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting twitter:description: "Hate is not what America stands for" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt324f60dc17503e6c/69893dc5ab6d77802a6b40a6/screen-shot-2018-10-30-at-10-34-54-am.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Hate Is Not What America Stands For.' Stephen Colbert Slams Trump's Response to 'Sickening' Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 30, 2018 3:13 PM UTC  CBS/The Late Show  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 30, 2018 3:13 PM UTC Stephen Colbert has denounced [President Donald Trump’s response](http://time.com/5438579/pittsburgh-shooting-court-trump-visit/) to the [mass shooting](http://time.com/5437714/guns-in-america-conversation/) that took the lives of [11 people](http://time.com/5437123/victims-tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting-pittsburgh/) at [Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue](http://time.com/money/5437626/pittsburgh-tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting-how-to-help/) on Saturday. Colbert opened Monday’s episode of _The Late Show_ with a solemn monologue in which he condemned the hate that led to the tragedy. “It was the worst act of violence against Jewish people in U.S. history,” he said of the massacre. “It’s tragic, it’s sickening and our thoughts are with the victims, their families and the larger Jewish community. But more than that, I want to say hate is not what America stands for. And tonight, all of us are with you.” The late-night host went on to slam Trump’s reaction to the deadly attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. “Naturally in times like these, our nation looks to its president for comfort and guidance. That’s our first mistake. Immediately after the shooting, Trump told reporters how the attack in Pittsburgh could’ve been prevented. Spoiler alert: It’s more guns,” Colbert said before mocking Trump’s suggestion that an armed guard could’ve stopped the shooting. “Yes, it’s so simple. In fact, why didn’t the Jewish people have an armed guard for the last 5,000 years?” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5438911/stephen-colbert-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5438911/stephen-colbert-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/"},"headline":"'Hate Is Not What America Stands For.' Stephen Colbert Slams Trump's Response to 'Sickening' Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting","datePublished":"2018-10-30T15:13:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:43.699Z","description":"Colbert has denounced Trump's reaction to the mass shooting that took the lives of 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue","url":"https://time.com/5438911/stephen-colbert-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","stephen colbert","TV","the late show","Late Night Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt324f60dc17503e6c/69893dc5ab6d77802a6b40a6/screen-shot-2018-10-30-at-10-34-54-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt324f60dc17503e6c/69893dc5ab6d77802a6b40a6/screen-shot-2018-10-30-at-10-34-54-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stephen-Colbert-Pittsburgh-Synagogue-Shooting","caption":"","creditText":"CBS/The Late Show","representativeOfPage":true}],"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/5438911/stephen-colbert-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting/","name":"'Hate Is Not What America Stands For.' Stephen Colbert Slams Trump's Response to 'Sickening' Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting"}}]}] ```