Colbert Says Kyrsten Sinema’s Party Switch Is ‘Shocking': ‘She Was a Democrat?’ (Video)
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“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert took aim at Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Monday evening following her announcement that she would be leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an Independent.
“That is shocking,” Colbert joked. “Kyrsten Sinema was a Democrat? She was a what?”
Sinema’s announcement comes shortly after Raphael Warnock secured re-election in Georgia, guaranteeing Democrats’ control of the Senate.
“Naturally, Sinema decided to make it about her,” he quipped. “She’s like the person who shows up to your wedding wearing white. Or goes to your funeral in a coffin.”
He emphasized that while Sinema’s party change is “huge news,” it doesn’t really change that much as she expects to keep her same committee assignments and caucus with Democrats. Sinema recently said in an interview with Politico that “nothing will change about my values or behavior.”
“So rest assured, she may be an independent now but still sucks,” Colbert said.
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday if her move doesn’t change the balance of power in the Senate, Sinema responded: “I know you have to ask that question Jake, but that’s kind of a D.C. thing to worry about… I’m not really spending a lot of time worrying about what the mechanics look like for Washington D.C.”
“You work in Washington D.C. That’s what your constituents hired you to go do,” Colbert replied. “That’s like a pilot saying, ‘Attention passengers: I know you have to ask these questions about the left engine being on fire but that’s kind of a plane issue. I’m not spending much time worrying about the mechanics of this plane. Anyway gotta go lots of flashy lights and beep beep boop boops happening up here. Hey that’s a pretty mountain.’”
Colbert went on to criticize Sinema for continuously undermining her party as a Democrat, including when she “torpedoed raising federal minimum wages with a curtesy and a thumbs down.”
“It was the most disrespectful dismissal of the working class Americans since Herbert Hoover mooned dust bowl farmers,” he mocked.
He also noted that she already faces critics in her new party, like independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
“He recently referred to her as a corporate Democrat. It’s true, she’s always shilling for corporations. She’s clearly in the pocket of Spirit Halloween,” he said alongside photos of Sinema wearing various colored wigs.
Additionally, Colbert cited a poll that found 54% of Republicans, 57% of Democrats and 51% of independents in Arizona don’t like her.
“That’s everybody. If only there was some universal gesture to represent how the people of Arizona feel about Kyrsten Sinema,” he said before playing the video of her curtesying and giving a thumbs down. “There you go.”
Watch Colbert’s full monologue in the video above.
