A House bill that would drastically tighten screening procedures on refugees from Syria was only a few hours old by the time Stephen Colbert sat behind his desk to film The Late Show on Thursday. And Colbert and his staff were not going to let H.R. 4038–a bill that had already caused widespread outrage–go ignored. Acting quickly, he used it as an intro to a segment cutting through the hypocrisy of Republican's Syrian refugee fear-mongering. While Colbert doesn't spend much time on the bill itself other than its name–"ASAFEA, because under the law no one with a name like that will be allowed in the country"–the association is clear.
In the week leading up to the bill, Republican candidates unleashed a barrage of asinine statements regarding how America should handle Syrian refugees. There was Donald Trump, who said they wouldn't like the weather here, to which Colbert said: "Do I want to stay in a war zone where my family faces almost certain death or do I want to go somewhere where I have to put my jacket on before I go to the mall?" Then there was Grandpa Munster Ted Cruz and time traveling baby murderer Jeb(!) Bush who said they would only allow Christian refugees into the country. Colbert's response: "Christians have never committed acts of terror," as he showed a photo of KKK members burning a cross. The kicker was a line about Bush trying to figure out who is Christian and who is not: "If you want to know if someone is a Christian, just have them complete this sentence: 'Jesus said I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you' ... and if they don't say 'welcomed me in' they are either a terrorist or running for president."
In Nielsen's "live plus same-day" estimates for the week of Nov. 2-6, which saw NBC's "Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" remain a dominant No. 1, "Kimmel" bested "Late Show" by 5% in both adults 18-49 rating (0.60 vs. 0.57) and total viewers (2.626 million vs. 2.492 million). The ABC program got a boost on Thursday when a visit by Hillary Clinton produced its most-watched telecast on any night in six months (3.116 million). It also won by 22% in 18-49 over "Late Show" that night (0.73 vs. 0.60).
While this is telling, it's important to note that his ratings are double in the 18-34 demographic than they were under David Letterman. His streaming is also 2,000 percent higher. And as a survey from The Hollywood Reporter points out, this may be because Republicans don't like him. This shouldn't be a shocker. The Late Show under Colbert is challenging–the guy isn't playing beer pong and making fun of little kids. He's using one of the most powerful television platforms in the country to actually say something–even if you don't want to hear it.