--- title: Stephen Colbert Mocks Mike Pence for Trump-MLK Comparison description: Stephen Colbert didn't hesitate to call out Vice President Mike Pence for comparing Donald Trump to Martin Luther King Jr. canonical: https://time.com/5509477/stephen-colbert-mike-pence-mlk/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-22T17:13:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:02.772Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Mocks Mike Pence's Using MLK's Words og:description: "MLK weighed in on border walls, Mr. Vice President" og:url: https://time.com/5509477/stephen-colbert-mike-pence-mlk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee342110bb17309/698943c1ab6d77aaea6b4ab8/screen-shot-2019-01-22-at-12.05.00-pm.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-Mike-Pence-MLK og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Mocks Mike Pence's Using MLK's Words twitter:description: "MLK weighed in on border walls, Mr. Vice President" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee342110bb17309/698943c1ab6d77aaea6b4ab8/screen-shot-2019-01-22-at-12.05.00-pm.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Colbert Mocks Mike Pence's Use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Words  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 22, 2019 5:13 PM UTC  CBS/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 22, 2019 5:13 PM UTC [Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/5509391/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-stephen-colbert-social-media/) didn’t hesitate to call out [Vice President Mike Pence](http://time.com/5506565/karen-pence-school-homosexuality/) for [comparing Donald Trump to Martin Luther King Jr.](http://time.com/5508730/president-trump-martin-luther-king-jr-memorial/) Following [Pence’s attempt](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-of-face-the-nation-on-january-19-2019/) to use a line from King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech to garner supper for Trump’s proposed border wall during a Sunday appearance on CBS’ “Face The Nation,” Colbert denounced the vice president’s remarks by invoking a different MLK quote. “MLK weighed in on border walls, Mr. Vice President, when he visited East Berlin [and said](http://time.com/5504826/martin-luther-king-wall-history/), ‘For here on either side of the wall are God’s children and no man-made barrier can obliterate that fact,'” the _Late Show_ host countered. Martin Luther King Jr.’s son, Martin Luther King III, also slammed the vice president’s comparison while speaking at a Monday National Action Network breakfast honoring MLK. “Now, Martin Luther King Jr. was a bridge builder, not a wall builder,” [he said](https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1087474898266673158). “Martin Luther King Jr. would say love, not hate, will make America great.” Watch the full Colbert clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5509477/stephen-colbert-mike-pence-mlk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5509477/stephen-colbert-mike-pence-mlk/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Mocks Mike Pence's Use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Words","datePublished":"2019-01-22T17:13:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:02.772Z","description":"\"MLK weighed in on border walls, Mr. Vice President\"","url":"https://time.com/5509477/stephen-colbert-mike-pence-mlk/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","stephen colbert","TV","the late show","Late Night Television","the late show with stephen colbert"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee342110bb17309/698943c1ab6d77aaea6b4ab8/screen-shot-2019-01-22-at-12.05.00-pm.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/blt8ee342110bb17309/698943c1ab6d77aaea6b4ab8/screen-shot-2019-01-22-at-12.05.00-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stephen-Colbert-Mike-Pence-MLK","caption":"","creditText":"CBS/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","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/5509477/stephen-colbert-mike-pence-mlk/","name":"Stephen Colbert Mocks Mike Pence's Use of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Words"}}]}] ```