Politics on late night: Stephen Colbert ridicules President Trump's Medal of Freedom picks

(CBS)

"Late Show" host Stephen Colbert shredded President Donald Trump’s recently unveiled recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in his monologue Wednesday night.

Last weekend, the White House announced the president’s picks for the highest honor for civilians including Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Miriam Adelson, philanthropist and wife of GOP mega donor Sheldon Adelson, football Hall of Famers Alan Page of the Vikings and Roger Staubach of the Cowboys, and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Elvis Presley, and Babe Ruth.

Colbert called the selection a “really weird Chex Mix of recipients, especially since three out of the seven recipients are deceased; former Justice Antonin Scalia, Elvis Presley, and Babe Ruth.

“That’s a crazy list of people,” Colbert said. “The only thing they all have in common is that none of them know what Orrin Hatch did to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

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The “Late Show” host then compared giving out the Presidential Medal of Freedom to “the roses on ‘The Bachelor’” and that it’s “not normal to give them to this many dead people.” He jokingly suspected that Trump included Elvis Presley on the list because the president has “secret files” that prove that the King of Rock and Roll is still alive and that he’s only giving him this honor to “flush him out.”

U.S President Donald Trump gestures outside the Elysee Palace after his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Saturday, Nov.10, 2018. (AP)

“What were the criteria for putting together such a random grouping of people?” Colbert asked. “Well, ‘it’s completely at the president’s discretion.’”

Colbert is a frequent critic of the president and the administration. On Tuesday night he made fun of the first lady's office demanding Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel be removed.

Colbert called it “refreshing” that a different Trump wants somebody fired, joking that the first lady’s “goodbye gift” for Ricardel would be a jacket that says, “U Don’t Really Work Here Anymore, Do U?’

The “Late Show“ host then read the first lady’s statement, which he said was a “classy way to diss somebody.”

On Wednesday morning, the first lady’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, issued a direct response to reports that President Trump was considering the removal of Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel.

“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.