Stephen Colbert isn’t starting his new gig as host of The Late Show until next month, but he says he’s “twitching” to have his audience back. One of the most anxiety-producing aspects of his extended vacation: Donald Trump.
“I want to do jokes on Donald Trump so badly, and I have no venue. Right now, I’m just dry-Trumping,” Colbert said at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, according to Adweek. “Every night before I go to bed, I light a candle and pray that he stays in the race and I also pray that no one puts that candle anywhere near his hair,” he said.
In his new role, Colbert will shrug off his former personality as freedom-loving, faux conservative “Stephen Colbert,” and instead act authentically as himself. “One of the reasons why I most wanted to drop the character is that I felt I had done everything I could do with him other than have my honest interest in my guest,” he said.
Lucky for Colbert, Trump shows no signs of tiring. In fact, the real estate mogul was the only Republican candidate in the FOX News debate Thursday to refuse to rule out running as an independent if he fails to win the party’s nomination. On Monday, he reiterated that stance to ABC News, saying that a change in heart “is not imminent.”