PBS/CNN’s Christiane Amanpour joined CBS’s Stephen Colbert for her second late night comedy show appearance of the week on the Wednesday installment of The Late Show. The duo freaked out over the possibility of a second Donald Trump term and that the rest of the democratic world is similarly freaked out and over the same issues, such as American pro-lifers allegedly being comparable to Iran and the Taliban.
Amanpour informed Colbert that the rest of the world is “watching your election very, very closely because that is really preoccupying them. Having had a collective nervous breakdown the last time. They are trying to proof themselves against—”
Colbert then interrupted to ask, “So, the world freaked out as much as some of us did?”
Amanpour qualified her remarks, “As much as some of you did. Some of the world. I mean, there were parts of the world that didn't freak out. Mostly the autocratic parts of the world.”
The duo then listed off several people who allegedly would be comfortable with another Trump win, including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman.
Colbert followed up by declaring that “the idea of a second Trump presidency makes Americans fearful. What specifically, I assume the world is freaked out about the second possibility.”
Naturally, Amanpour agreed, but instead of immediately diving into foreign affairs, she claimed the rest of the world is alarmed by American pro-lifers, “Well yeah, I mean look, you’ve just been talking about something freaking out Americans, which is this Arizona law from pre-Civil War and that is being really looked at especially in democracies where there are codified women's rights and human rights. France, for instance. On International Women's Day, March 8, actually signed into law a constitutional amendment to guarantee a woman's right to make choices about her own body.”
If an American state legislature passed legislation with identical language as France’s amendment, Amanpour would claim it was a radical, right-wing denial of women’s rights because the limit in that law is 14 weeks.
Amanpour continued, insisting that you either support abortion or you oppose human rights, “This was sort of a demonstration of will by, you know, a country that's very supportive of your revolution, to show that this is universal human rights and that women actually need to be treated like adults and whether it's Afghanistan, Iran, or the United States, a bunch of grumpy old man shouldn't be making essential decisions.”
While Amanpour didn’t explicitly say “Taliban,” considering the Taliban runs Afghanistan, it should be obvious who she is talking about. The Iran and Taliban analogy isn’t new for both Amanpour and Colbert. Hillary Clinton used the analogy in a softball December 2022 interview with Amanpour, while Colbert used it in a March 2023 rant against the Supreme Court.
Here is a transcript for the April 10 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
4/11/2024
12:05 AM ET
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: In the world, they are watching your election very, very closely because that is really preoccupying them.
STEPHEN COLBERT: So, they—
AMANPOUR: Having had a collective nervous breakdown the last time. They are trying to proof themselves against—
STEPHEN COLBERT: I guess, I really didn’t take that into account all the time. So, the world freaked out—
AMANPOUR: Yes.
COLBERT: — As much as some of us did?
AMANPOUR: As much as some of you did. Some of the world. I mean, there were parts of the world that didn't freak out. Mostly the autocratic parts of the world.” Yeah.
COLBERT: Your Orbans. Yeah, yeah.
AMANPOUR: Your Putins, your Xis, your Orbans. Those people.
COLBERT: Your Erdogans. Those people. Okay.
AMANPOUR: Your, you know, MBSes
COLBERT: The idea of a second Trump presidency makes Americans fearful. What specifically, I assume the world is freaked out about the second possibility. Okay.
AMANPOUR: Well yeah, I mean look, you’ve just been talking about something freaking out Americans, which is this Arizona law—
COLBERT: Yeah.
AMANPOUR: — from pre-Civil War—
COLBERT: Yup.
AMANPOUR: — and that is being really looked at especially in democracies where there are codified women's rights and human rights. France, for instance. On International Women's Day, March 8, actually signed into law a constitutional amendment to guarantee a woman's right to make choices about her own body. Abortion and other—
COLBERT: Do many countries have that?
AMANPOUR: Not necessarily, no, they don't. This was sort of a demonstration of will by, you know, a country that's very supportive of your revolution, to show that this is universal human rights and that women actually need to be treated like adults and whether it's Afghanistan, Iran, or the United States, a bunch of grumpy old man shouldn't be making essential decisions.
