Stephen Colbert Says Donald Trump Is Just Like His Old Character — With 1 Exception

Donald Trump is the real-life version of Stephen Colbert’s old persona on The Colbert Report, the former late-night host said — except Trump has money.

“I’m not the first person to say this, but I completely agree that he’s my old character with $10 billion,” Colbert said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, referring to the faux conservative pundit he used to play on Comedy Central. “I mean it’s one of the reasons why I just can’t do that old character anymore because he’s doing it better than I ever could, because he’s willing to drink his own Kool-Aid and manufacture and distribute it because he’s got all the cash.”

“He’s this very interesting like Frankenstein of the idea that facts don’t matter and only money does,” Colbert added. “Because if money is speech, he’s got a $10 billion mouth, and doesn’t have to spend any of it because everyone will point a camera at him.”

The Late Show said he respects the Republican presidential front-runner’s populist appeal even if he may not agree with rhetoric and controversial proposals that are “more than a little shocking.”

“I have a respect for Trump for knowing who the real audience is, that if you really want to win you got to get the people,” Colbert said. “There’s a populism to Trump that I find very appealing. And it’s only this, is that the party elders would like him to go away but the people have decided that he is not going to.”

See video of the interview below.