Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Trump’s campaign is so cartoonish that Stephen Colbert talked to a literal cartoon Trump

Donald Trump’s campaign has gotten so ridiculous that Stephen Colbert is now regularly bringing on a cartoon version of the Republican frontrunner onto The Late Show.

Colbert pointed to a few incidents in the past week before he went on to host the cartoon Trump:

  • Trump has the worst favorability ratings of any major candidate in recent US history.
  • After Trump said that women should be punished if they get an abortion, he went on to take four other positions on abortion in just three days. “He flip-flopped, then flap, flooped, and flupped,” Colbert joked.
  • Trump tweeted out poll numbers suggesting that he was winning the Wisconsin primary when, in fact, the numbers he tweeted showed Ted Cruz ahead. “While this does create the appearance that Trump is number one, it also creates the appearance that he doesn’t know how numbers work,” Colbert said.

Facing all of this, Colbert brought on cartoon Trump to debate the campaign and numbers.

Here is one exchange that gets eerily close to Trump’s speaking style:

Cartoon Trump: I’m going to get the biggest votes. I’m talking checkmarks so huge you’re going to need two ballots just to fit it on there. Tremendous, huge checkmarks!

Colbert: But you can’t win an election just by increasing your font size.

Cartoon Trump: Stephen, I guarantee I’ve never been accused of having a small font. Listen, listen, seriously, there’s no problem in that department. Believe you me, it is Helvetica bold.

This wasn’t the first time Colbert brought on cartoon Trump. Colbert unveiled the character after the real Trump attacked Cruz’s wife on Twitter and then defended his actions to CNN’s Anderson Cooper by saying, “I didn’t start it.”

This is what America’s presidential race has been reduced to: a candidate so ridiculous that only a cartoon can answer for him.


Watch: Donald Trump’s rise is a scary moment in America

More in Politics

The Logoff
Trump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictionsTrump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictions
The Logoff

How the Trump administration is still trying to rewrite January 6 history.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Donald Trump messed with the wrong popeDonald Trump messed with the wrong pope
Politics

Trump fought with Pope Francis before. He’s finding Pope Leo XIV to be a tougher foil.

By Christian Paz
Podcasts
A cautionary tale about tax cutsA cautionary tale about tax cuts
Podcast
Podcasts

California cut property taxes in the 1970s. It didn’t go so well.

By Miles Bryan and Noel King
Podcasts
Obama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwupsObama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwups
Podcast
Podcasts

Wendy Sherman helped Obama reach a deal with Iran. Here’s what she thinks Trump is doing wrong.

By Kelli Wessinger and Noel King
Politics
The Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything elseThe Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything else
Politics

McNutt v. DOJ could allow the justices to seize tremendous power over the US economy.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
The new Hormuz blockade, briefly explainedThe new Hormuz blockade, briefly explained
The Logoff

Trump tries Iran’s playbook.

By Cameron Peters