--- --- # Stephen Colbert Brings His Conservative Alter Ego Back to Defend Trump's Budget by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 21, 2017 4:00 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Mar 21, 2017 4:00 PM UTC [Stephen Colbert](http://time.com/4674480/colbert-on-trump-press-conference/?iid=sr-link2)’s conservative alter-ego took over _The Late Show_ on Monday night to resurrect The Werd, the truth-telling segment from _The Colbert Report_. He kicked his monologue off as the same old Colbert, the [liberal-leaning](http://time.com/4656270/jon-stewart-stephen-colbert-the-late-show-the-daily-show/?iid=sr-link3) late night host. But then he started to speak about President Trump’s “ruthless” budget blueprint, which proposes to axe federal funding for programs like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Meals on Wheels and school lunch programs. [Colbert](http://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/?iid=sr-link8) couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of heartless monster would be against that?” That question seemed to serve as a dog whistle for Colbert’s “conservative pundit colleague” with the same name. The fiscal conservative version of Colbert arrived on set, wielding the Captain America shield and sword that hung on the wall of Colbert’s Comedy Central set. He then took a seat at the desk and presented The Werd, “Screw Unto Others” edition. Colbert, accompanied by his honest computer screen, went on to explain why Trump’s budget cuts make sense. “I know what you’re saying,” he said. “You’re saying ‘They did meet their objective. They brought food to the elderly,’ but we all know what happens to food after we eat it. We are literally throwing money down the toilet.” Watch below. Watch Colbert The Werd on Trump Budget VIDEO ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4707799/colbert-on-trump-budget/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4707799/colbert-on-trump-budget/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Brings His Conservative Alter Ego Back to Defend Trump's Budget","datePublished":"2017-03-21T16:00:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:42:04.575Z","description":"Colbert’s conservative alter ego stopped by The Late Show to explain Trump's budget","url":"https://time.com/4707799/colbert-on-trump-budget/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","politics","stephen colbert","Donald Trump","Late Night Television","Late Night Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","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":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4707799/colbert-on-trump-budget/","name":"Stephen Colbert Brings His Conservative Alter Ego Back to Defend Trump's Budget"}}]}] ```