--- title: Stephen Colbert Takes Down Trump on 2019 State of the Union description: Stephen Colbert went live to deliver a sharp takedown of of President Donald Trump's 2019 State of the Union address. canonical: https://time.com/5522787/stephen-colbert-live-sotu/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-06T15:48:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:21:56.929Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Delivers Live Takedown of State of the Union og:description: "This speech was like watching paint lie" og:url: https://time.com/5522787/stephen-colbert-live-sotu/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt766a9cf7947a3a6f/6989449f656a3f2f32bd6932/screen-shot-2019-02-06-at-10.17.35-am.png?branch=production&width=1194&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1194 og:image:height: 672 og:image:alt: Stephen-Colbert-Live-State-of-the-Union og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Delivers Live Takedown of State of the Union twitter:description: "This speech was like watching paint lie" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt766a9cf7947a3a6f/6989449f656a3f2f32bd6932/screen-shot-2019-02-06-at-10.17.35-am.png?branch=production&width=1194&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Colbert Took Shots at Every Part of Trump's 2019 State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=8d0703a5-3f8d-46d2-9866-99a5cce922bd&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here Are the Facts Behind President Trump's Biggest State of the Union Claims [Watch (HLS stream): Here Are the Facts Behind President Trump's Biggest State of the Union Claims](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4m6IYvY2.m3u8) (2:28)  _Published 2019-02-06. President Donald Trump had a lot of ground to cover in his rescheduled State of the Union address Tuesday night._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 6, 2019 3:48 PM UTC President Donald Trump had a lot of ground to cover in his rescheduled State of the Union address Tuesday night.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 6, 2019 3:48 PM UTC Just a little over an hour after the conclusion of [President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address](http://time.com/5521860/2019-state-of-the-union-trump-transcript/), [Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/5486658/stephen-colbert-monologue-last-night/) went live to deliver a sharp takedown of the speech. Colbert opened Tuesday’s episode of _The Late Show_ with a nearly 16-minute-long monologue dissecting pretty much every topic Trump touched on during his 82-minute speech, the longest State of the Union address since [President Bill Clinton spoke for 89 minutes in 2000](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-documents-archive-guidebook/annual-messages-congress-the-state-the-union-0). “This was not a particularly good speech. But what it lacked in quality, it made up in length,” Colbert said. “This speech was like watching paint _lie_.” The late-night host went on to get a particularly big laugh with a joke about Trump boasting that the U.S. is “considered far and away the hottest economy anywhere in the world.” “It is so hot, if it wasn’t my economy perhaps I’d be dating it,” Colbert quipped, referencing a controversial comment that Trump made about his daughter Ivanka during a [2006 appearance on _The View_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP7yf8-Lk80). Watch Stephen Colbert’s live State of the Union takedown below. ## Transcript [00:00] Millions of our fellow citizens are watching us now, [00:02] gathered in this great chamber, hoping [00:06] that we will govern not as two [00:11] parties, but as one nation. Lawmakers in New York [00:14] cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation [00:19] That would allow a baby to be ripped from the [00:23] mother's womb, moments from birth. These [00:27] are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get [00:31] the chance to share their love and their dreams with [00:34] the world. [ MUSIC ] [00:46] [ MUSIC ]. [00:57] In just over two years since the election. We have [01:01] launched an unprecedented economic boom. A [01:05] boom that has rarely been seen before. There's [01:10] been nothing like it. [01:17] [ MUSIC ] [01:23] [ MUSIC ] [01:29] Republicans and Democrats must join forces again to [01:33] confront an urgent national crisis. Congress [01:39] has 10 days left to pass a bill that will fund [01:44] our government, protect your homeland and secure [01:48] our very dangerous southern border. 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