Colbert Says Trump ‘Designated a New National Bird’ After Ford Plant Heckling

President Trump visited a Ford factory in Detroit on Tuesday and appeared to swear and flip his middle finger at an auto worker who called him a “pedophile protector,” a moment Stephen Colbert addressed on Wednesday’s "Late Show."

“That’s a new one. The president of the United States publicly F-bombs and then flips somebody off,” Colbert said, adding: “Apparently, Trump has designated a new national bird.” He also quipped, “You got to hand it to that auto worker for getting under Trump’s skin like compound butter on a Thanksgiving turkey,” and joked about Ford product lines, saying attention to detail “is the kind of attention to detail you can expect in your F-150.”

Colbert referenced the long-awaited release of what he called the “Epstein files,” saying, “you signed a law mandating that you would have to release the Epstein files by the middle of last month, but you still haven’t. It kind of makes you seem like a, what’s the phrase? [yells] Pedophile protector!” Other late-night hosts also weighed in: Jimmy Fallon called the gesture “the Melania salute,” Seth Meyers said Trump appeared to mouth “[expletive] you,” and Jordan Klepper joked about Trump’s “delicate hands.”

The exchange at the Ford plant and the subsequent late-night monologues focused on the gesture and the heckle; Colbert’s comments about the Epstein files reflected his framing of what has and has not been released, as he described it on the show.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Stephen Colbert, Ford Plant, Detroit, Epstein Files