Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s mocking line about Donald Trump — and the narrow margin by which he won the popular vote in the 2024 presidential election — prompted laughter and cheers on Tuesday’s episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”
Buttigieg first condemned the president’s speech to a joint session of Congress as “classic Trump” with “a lot of darkness” and “a lot of dazzle” but with “very, very little about the things that most affect our lives.”
Then, the former Democratic presidential candidate predicted Trump will “continue to slide” in popularity if he doesn’t start to deliver on improving the economy and affordability.
“Let’s remember, despite what you heard tonight, [Trump] came in with just under 50% of the vote,” Buttigieg said of November’s vote.
“He won, I’m not disputing that. But the smallest popular vote margin since Nixon,” he added.
Then came the zinger: “I wonder how he feels about something that important being that small in his case?”
Buttigieg let the gag/question ― which clearly targeted Trump’s sensitivities about having the biggest everything (be it crowd sizes, polling results or whatever...) ― hang in the air.
“And he has lost support from there and he will continue to,” Buttigieg added, as the audience applauded.
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“To be smaller than Tricky Dick gives one pause, I would say,” host Stephen Colbert quipped in response.
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