“The mourning of my beautiful country”

Late night hosts have addressed The two men discussed the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday and opened their monologues Monday with a somber message, condemning the shooting and calling on Americans to safeguard the country’s democracy.

“The United States came close to a great tragedy on Saturday when, at a political rally in Pennsylvania, a 20-year-old gunman shot and nearly killed a former president and the man who has now become the Republican nominee for 2024,” Stephen Colbert said in a pre-recorded opening remarks ahead of the show’s regular live edition. The Late Show“My immediate reaction when I saw this on Saturday was horror at what was happening, relief that Donald Trump survived and, frankly, heartbreak for my beautiful country.”

“I might as well start the show by moaning on the floor, because how many times do we have to learn the lesson that violence has no place in our politics?” he continued. “The purpose of a democracy is to settle our differences by voting, not by shooting, as the saying goes.”

“In the wake of this attack on Saturday, many Americans on both sides of the political spectrum — from President Biden to Speaker of the House Johnson — are calling on all of us to change the way we see each other, the way we treat each other, the way we talk to each other,” he added, before ending the taped monologue on a lighter note. “So this week, we’re going to do our best to talk about these ideas, the people who represent them, and a lot more with guests, and who knows, if we’re lucky, maybe a few fart jokes.”

Anthony Anderson, who was tasked with welcoming the guests Jimmy Kimmel Liveopened Monday’s episode by joking: “All weekend I kept thinking, ‘I wonder what Jimmy Kimmel is going to say about this on Monday. And then I was like, ‘Oh shit! I’m Jimmy Kimmel on Monday.'”

He added: “In all seriousness, I want to say that our thoughts are with the families of the victims and that hopefully this will be a moment where we can all take a step back from the hatred and vitriol in our politics and maybe relax a little bit.”

Seth Meyers also denounced the “horrific” assassination attempt and called the act of violence “poison to our democracy.” The host said that as he prepared for Monday’s monologue, he was reminded of the “horrific” assassination attempt and called the act of violence “poison to our democracy.” Late at night The team responded to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

“I said then that multiracial, pluralistic democracy is fragile and precious. It requires our vigilance, stewardship and protection,” Meyers said. “That is as true today as it was then, and in light of the horrific events at a Trump rally on Saturday, it is clear that we must recommit to this endeavor as fully and as robustly as possible.”

In the decade his team has led the operation, Meyers said they have “witnessed far too many shocking scenes of political violence, from Charlottesville to January 6, including an attack on Nancy Pelosi’s wife, a shooting at a congressional baseball game practice, a kidnapping plot against the governor of Michigan and now an assassination attempt on the life of Donald Trump.”

He added that while Trump was “thankfully spared,” the attack “tragically killed one bystander and injured two others.” Meyers then called on Americans to “do the hard work of safeguarding this cherished enterprise,” like previous generations who “protected democracy and passed it on to us.”