--- title: Stephen Colbert Q&A on Trump Boy Scouts 2017 description: Stephen Colbert said that to remain hopeful we must "not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal.” canonical: https://time.com/4904658/stephen-colbert-interview-on-trump-2017/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-17T16:56:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:34.945Z og:title: How Colbert Stays Hopeful When He's Going After Trump og:description: "[Do] not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal.” og:url: https://time.com/4904658/stephen-colbert-interview-on-trump-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfa354e3e9183882/6988d89997cdffa8ff6b1e57/gettyimages-824940818.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: stephen colbert donald trump news program og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Colbert Stays Hopeful When He's Going After Trump twitter:description: "[Do] not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfa354e3e9183882/6988d89997cdffa8ff6b1e57/gettyimages-824940818.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How Stephen Colbert Stays Hopeful When He's Relentlessly Mocking Trump by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 17, 2017 4:56 PM UTC  NEW YORK - JULY 27: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday's July 27, 2017 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images) NEW YORK - JULY 27: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday's July 27, 2017 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)Photograph by Scott Kowalchyk—Getty/CBS by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Aug 17, 2017 4:56 PM UTC Stephen Colbert wants to keep his optimism. Stephen Colbert sat down with [the _Los Angeles Times_](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/tv/la-en-st-stephen-colbert-emmys-20170817-htmlstory.html) for a wide-ranging interview that covered everything from _Lord of the Rings_ author J.R.R. Tolkien to French philosopher Léon Bloy and, of course, President Donald Trump. Trump’s time in office has been a whirlwind, and it turns out it’s hard for late-night comedy writers to keep up with the rapid-fire news cycle. “We add new material between 4:45 and 5:15 almost every night,” said Colbert about the show, which tapes around 5:30 p.m. ET. “We don’t want to wait until tomorrow.” The endless cycle, though, makes it hard not to get jaded, which Colbert recognized. “Cynicism is an enormous problem,” he said. “I’m actually a hopeful person. But the way to stay hopeful is to acknowledge and to not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal.” Colbert has found it difficult to avoid getting emotional about Trump’s statements and actions, for instance when the President spoke to the Boy Scout Jamboree. “To get children to boo and hoot,” said Colbert before quoting the Bible. “There’s a moral heresy involved with the President getting children to engage in his own behavior.” Colbert, though, says he is aware that as the host of _The Late Show_, he’s not supposed to lecture the audience. “The times you see me being my harshest or scolding, I promise you, that’s not what we wrote. I just get swept up in the emotion of the moment while I’m talking about it,” he said. He can’t always help it, though. For instance, when he uttered [a vulgar Putin-Trump joke](http://time.com/4764759/colbert-gay-trump/) that faced [backlash](http://time.com/4791572/fcc-stephen-colbert-late-show-donald-trump/). “That would be an example of perhaps letting my emotions get the best of me,” he [told the _Times_](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/tv/la-en-st-stephen-colbert-emmys-20170817-htmlstory.html). Trump responded to the comment by calling Colbert a [“no-talent guy,”](http://time.com/4775633/donald-trump-stephen-colbert-cnn-msnbc-chris-cuomo/) which [he took in stride](http://time.com/4777029/colbert-on-trump-no-talent/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4904658/stephen-colbert-interview-on-trump-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4904658/stephen-colbert-interview-on-trump-2017/"},"headline":"Here's How Stephen Colbert Stays Hopeful When He's Relentlessly Mocking Trump","datePublished":"2017-08-17T16:56:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:34.945Z","description":"\"[Do] not accept what is absolutely amoral, mentally ill behavior as normal,” said Colbert in a new interview","url":"https://time.com/4904658/stephen-colbert-interview-on-trump-2017/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","stephen colbert","Donald Trump","the late show","Late Night Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfa354e3e9183882/6988d89997cdffa8ff6b1e57/gettyimages-824940818.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbfa354e3e9183882/6988d89997cdffa8ff6b1e57/gettyimages-824940818.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"stephen colbert donald trump news program","caption":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","creditText":"Photograph by Scott Kowalchyk—Getty/CBS","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/4904658/stephen-colbert-interview-on-trump-2017/","name":"Here's How Stephen Colbert Stays Hopeful When He's Relentlessly Mocking Trump"}}]}] ```