Letterman Mocks McCain for Bailing on Late Show
Thursday September 25, 2008
You know your presidential campaign is on shaky ground when David Letterman accuses you of running scared and says something "doesn't smell right" about your campaign.
Letterman had unusually blunt words for John McCain after he canceled his appearance on the Late Show Wednesday night. McCain told Letterman he had to rush back to D.C. to fix the economy, but then Letterman got word in the middle of the taping that McCain was down the street doing a live interview with CBS's Katie Couric. So he showed the audience a live shot on the internal CBS News feed of a makeup artist working on McCain as he prepared to talk to Couric.
"He doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman observed. "Hey, John, I got a question! You need a ride to the airport?"
Letterman has been cracking lighthearted jokes about McCain for months, but he took it up a notch Wednesday night. Letterman pointedly questioned the wisdom of McCain's decision to suspend his campaign, and in the process, delivered one of the most punishing beat downs any presidential candidate has ever received on late-night TV.
"This doesn't smell right," Letterman said. "This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil."
"You don't suspend your campaign," Letterman continued. "Do you suspend your campaign? No, because that makes me think, well, you know, maybe there will be other things down the road - if hes in the White House, he might just suspend being president. I mean, we've got a guy like that now!"
"Are we suspending the campaign because there's an economic crisis, or because the poll numbers are sliding?"
Ouch.
It will be interesting to see if McCain returns to the show, which is where he launched his campaign. If so, he may want to bring some new insults.
Watch the video of Letterman's extended mockery of McCain, plus see Letterman's Top 10 Questions People Are Asking the John McCain Campaign:
10. "I just contributed to your campaign how do I get a refund?"
9. "Its Sarah Palin - does this mean I'm pars'dent?"
8. "Can't you solve this by selling some of your houses?"
7. "This is Clay Aiken. Is McCain single?"
6. "Do you still think the fundamentals of our economy are strong, Genius?"
5. "Are you doing all of this just to get out of going on Letterman?"
4. "What would Matlock do?"
3. "Hillary here - my schedule is free Friday night."
2. "Is this just an excuse to catch up on napping?"
1. "This is President Bush - what's all this trouble with the economy?"
CBS's Craig Ferguson also knocked McCain for suspending his campaign, comparing him to Castro, Napoleon, and Caesar:
"You can't suspend the democratic process because we're facing problems. At what point do you think, maybe we should suspend the election? We'll have the elections later. Some people have done that before: Castro did it, Napoleon did it, Julius Caesar did it. You can't do that. If you like it or not, the campaign is part of the democratic process ...
"You wanna take your time off, that's fine, but you don't say we're suspending the campaign. You can't say that. It's the democratic process. We didn't suspend it for 9/11, we didn't suspend it for Pearl Harbor, we didn't suspend it for the Nazis, we didn't suspend it for the damn British. We don't do that in America!" (Watch the video)
Ouch again.
Update: The Letterman-McCain feud has spilled over to a second night, with Letterman continuing his drubbing of McCain:
"I was thinking about this," Letterman said, "John, John, here's how it works: You don't come to see me you don't come to see me? Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day. That's how it works. You see?"
"I'm just feeling like an ugly date," he continued. "That's what I feel like. I feel like an ugly date. I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied."
The Huffington Post has the video and the Los Angeles Times has the transcript of Letterman's latest lacerating remarks.
See also:
Letterman Mocks 'Old Man' McCain
McCain and Letterman Trade Insults
Letterman Lampoons Sarah Palin
McCain Announces Presidential Bid on Letterman
Late-Night Political Jokes
Comments
Lettermen is never funny…Thats why J kicks his but every night in the ratings.
McCain’s problem is that he lied to Letterman, just like he’s been lying about his own record and Obama’s record, and it came back to bite him in a big way. Letterman’s audience got to witness the fraud that McCain has become, which is why he received a well deserved drubbing. Letterman has always been popular because he tells it like it is and represents the perspective of average folks. All Jay Leno ever does is lob softballs and suck up to politicians. Kudos to Letterman for having the guts to speak truth to power!
Humor often cuts straight to the truth. I’ll agree the truths Leno brought up here are definitely not funny. McCain wants to project himself as Superman saving the day in Washingon. While Mcain may sincerely want to help the country, in this case the politcal hype seems to be rather self-serving. If it’s really all about getting to Washington, why would he have time to appear with Katie Couric? Come on – we voters are smarter than to fall for that.
So much for “country first”. His country wants to know what he would do as President. Instead he’s backing out of the debate to engage in political grandstanding. We don’t need a comic book hero approach to leading the country. We need a real leader who can follow through even if he has to multi-task.
Looks like MacDoc should stop running down Letterman and brush up on his spelling! McShame lied and was caught yet again. These
clowns never learn. Letterman was very funny as usual. Leno
appeals to the trailer trash crowd and has no class. Glad he’s
leaving the air soon.
Good for you Letterman. You do say it like it is. The only reason McLame canceled the show and suspended the campaign is because he is worried that he would look like the bafoon that he is, and make an even bigger idiot of himself than he already has. I sure hope the American public is smart enough to see through what he is doing. He wants to make himself look like he is the big hero but he is just an old worn out out dated sour puss.
How about McCain taping another show while Letterman was supposed to be on his? Katie Courec was taping her show # BLOCKS AWAY. The live feed was just the icing on the cake.
There must be some humor in McCain dissing a state and a governor who are solidly in his corner. It would be just for Mississippi to go back to the Democratic Party and get representation in Washington to put an end to Republican occupation.
We don’t need a geezer or a pitbull with lipstick in the oval office. We need
Obama!
Jay Leno is an equal opportunity mocker. Not so for Letterman and most late night comedians. They consistently make fun of Republicans and conservatives, much more severely. I read the late night jokes and Leno has the greatest number of funny ones. That’s the reason he’s number one, and I think NBC is insane. They probably can’t afford to pay off Conan. (I also don’t think most liberals have a good sense of humor. Most of their humor is in the vein of bashing Bush, etc. If they disagree with you you’re an idiot.)
Lettermen weren’t funny – but they were one heck of a singing group! Their harmonies were (and I guess still are) timeless! Listen to “I Only Have Eyes for You” to see what I mean.
LetterMAN initially derided Senator McCain for the reasons Craig Ferguson listed – in this country we do NOT stop the democratic process. His later shots were due to catching Senator McCain in a flat-out lie. I thought Letterman’s showing of the live feed was priceless!
Enough talk about Leno. I’ve watched Letterman for years and will continue to do so. McIdiot deserved the punishment. For god’s sake – you’re telling someone something that hosts a late night tv show 5 times a week and you don’t figure in (in your I’ve gotta get out of work scheme) that he’ll be saying anything about it? That just goes to show how ignorant McIdiot is and just how out of touch he is with the American people.
Keep it coming Letterman. We’re ALL listening.
thank you Dave. Been watching you since you were daytime. Keep up the good work!
Ok, McCain is the stupidest person to ever run for president besies president bush. “It got a little heated at one point during the debate. McCain talked about experience and he said, ‘We don’t have time for on-the-job training.’ Then why did you pick Sarah Palin?” –Jay Leno
This is an exaple showing his stupidity. Palin thinks she can see fucking russia from her window because shes from alska this election is rediculous.