Los Angeles Times

Stephen Colbert gets a new way to satirize Trump with 'Our Cartoon President'

PASADENA, Calif. - When Stephen Colbert was about 8, he wrote a letter to President Richard Nixon about an issue very dear to his heart.

"I said, 'My name is Stephen Colbert and I believe we should have a continental flag. Can we at least have a conversation about this?'" the host of "The Late Show" recalled during a recent trip to the West Coast. "We have national flags and state flags, why don't we have a continental flag?"

In return, Colbert received a book of photos of Nixon with children, "which you don't picture," he says. (Sadly, he no longer has the book.) A similar letter to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau yielded no response, while a gracious staffer for Mexican President Luis Echeverria wrote back to say the idea had been floated at a recent cabinet meeting and "there was a lot of excitement" around it.

Forty-five years later, the nerdy youngster - or, as Colbert prefers to put it, "civically engaged" - who once

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times3 min read
Dylan Hernández: James Harden Delivers A Trademark Disappearing Act At The Worst Time For The Clippers
LOS ANGELES — James Harden produced one of his trademark playoff performances on Wednesday night. Actually, that's not true. This was worse. In the Clippers' 123-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of their first-round series, the longtime post
Los Angeles Times2 min readCrime & Violence
Editorial: The Attack On The UCLA Protest Encampment Was Unacceptable
It is never OK to use physical violence against people with whom you disagree. This should be obvious, but the events that unfolded on the UCLA campus early Wednesday show the consequences when that message is lost. Late Tuesday night, a large group
Los Angeles Times4 min readCrime & Violence
Commentary: The Trump Prosecution Has A Michael Cohen Problem — And A Plan To Solve It
Since the opening of the Donald Trump’s New York trial — when the former president’s counsel told the jury that the prosecution’s star witness “cannot be trusted” — the defense has telegraphed its principal strategy: Eviscerate Michael Cohen. As Trum

Related Books & Audiobooks