--- title: Stephen Colbert Asks Bernie Sanders to Prom description: Stephen Colbert would like the American people to ask Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders to prom canonical: https://time.com/4185417/stephen-colbert-bernie-sanders-prom-tuxedo/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-19T18:47:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:15:06.765Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Stephen Colbert Ask Tuxedo-Less Bernie Sanders to Prom og:description: "The theme of the prom of course: enchantment under our unfair financial system" og:url: https://time.com/4185417/stephen-colbert-bernie-sanders-prom-tuxedo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Stephen Colbert Ask Tuxedo-Less Bernie Sanders to Prom twitter:description: "The theme of the prom of course: enchantment under our unfair financial system" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Stephen Colbert Ask Tuxedo-Less Bernie Sanders to Prom  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 19, 2016 6:47 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 19, 2016 6:47 PM UTC Stephen Colbert would like the American people to ask Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders to prom. The host of _The Late Show_ joked about Sanders’ [recent interview with TIME](http://time.com/4183856/bernie-sanders-middle-class-taxes-health-care/), in which he [revealed he’s never worn a tuxedo](http://time.com/4183883/bernie-sanders-tuxedo-never-worn/). “Let me go on record, you’ve got a scoop, you ready for this? I do not own a tuxedo. Never have I worn a tuxedo,” Sanders said in the interview. Colbert took this to mean the Vermonter never went to prom in high school. “Who’s more obsessed with inequality than an unpopular high school student?” Colbert said. He invited viewers to ask the Senator to prom, providing them with a [photoshopped image of Sanders](http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert/news/1005020/ask-bernie-sanders-to-prom/) to use when they pop the question. “The theme of the prom, of course: enchantment under our unfair financial system,” Colbert said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4185417/stephen-colbert-bernie-sanders-prom-tuxedo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4185417/stephen-colbert-bernie-sanders-prom-tuxedo/"},"headline":"Watch Stephen Colbert Ask Tuxedo-Less Bernie Sanders to Prom","datePublished":"2016-01-19T18:47:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:15:06.765Z","description":"\"The theme of the prom, of course: enchantment under our unfair financial system\"","url":"https://time.com/4185417/stephen-colbert-bernie-sanders-prom-tuxedo/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"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":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4185417/stephen-colbert-bernie-sanders-prom-tuxedo/","name":"Watch Stephen Colbert Ask Tuxedo-Less Bernie Sanders to Prom"}}]}] ```