Gaza protesters got into the live post-DNC Late Show with Stephen Colbert and disrupted an interview with Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi was saying when the protest started, “What comes next, what comes next. What comes next is we’re going to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States. It’s going to be a great, great election.”
Colbert said, “For the people who can’t tell, there’s a protest going on in the audience. Hold on, I can hear you. We are at the commercial break but the subject is on Israel and Palestine and if you have a seat, we have to go to the commercial break. When we come back, I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject if you will listen, okay. Hold on, madam speaker.”
Video:
A Gaza protester interrupts Colbert’s interview with Pelosi, and he handles it perfectly “The subject is on Israel and Palestine and if you have a seat, we have to go to commercial break. When we come back, I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject if you will listen, ok.” pic.twitter.com/YsSDZlnxIo
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 21, 2024
They came back from commercial and true to his word, Colbert asked his question, the protesters continued, so Colbert asked Pelosi if she would like to respond, and she said, “Israel has a right to defend itself…But the other part of it is that’s been so major for all of us for many years is that there must be two-state solution. You cannot have peace unless you have a two-state solution. Israel, a secure Jewish democratic state in the region. And Palestine, the Palestinians having their own secure country there as well. Unless you have a two-state solution, you will not have a resolution of this.”
It was clear that the protesters didn’t want to have a dialog, so Colbert said, “Please don’t interrupt my guests. Madam speaker, we are alive show so I have to go at this point. Please come again. We can continue the conversation.”
Here is part two of the video:
When he came back from his next break, the protesters were gone.
Stephen Colbert tried to respectful of the protesters, but the protesters were disrespectful to him, his show, his audience, and his guest. It was clear that the protesters were not going to be satisfied with any answer, so there was no point in leaving them in the audience.
As usual, protesters on the left are protesting the wrong people.
Why are they protesting Nancy Pelosi? She is in the House minority and has no power to deliver what they want.
It turns out the person who is working to block the ceasefire deal that the protesters claim to want is Donald Trump, but they aren’t showing up at his tiny daily events around the country to pressure him to stop telling Netanyahu to not accept a ceasefire.
At some point, these tactics can become counterproductive and alienate people who might be sympathetic to the cause. What happened on Colbert was one of those moments.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
