Chicago’s heated demonstrations over the war in Gaza spilled into the Auditorium Theatre late Tuesday as protesters attempted to interrupt Stephen Colbert’s interview with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
As crowd outbursts were heard during Pelosi’s comments on a live episode of CBS’ “The Late Show,” Colbert calmly promised the audience that Israel and Palestine would be discussed soon and went to commercial.
But the break did not silence the protesters, who continued shouting as Pelosi gave a diplomatic answer to Colbert’s question about U.S. involvement in the war. Twice, the show’s audio cut out briefly, perhaps to censor profane language from the disruptors.
“As you can see from the continuing protest out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people,” Colbert said.
Keeping his composure, Colbert pressed Pelosi on what he was hearing from the protesters. “They’ve said the United States should not have any role in supplying Israel with arms to kill the people of Gaza,” he said, drawing cheers and applause.
“Israel has a right to defend itself,” Pelosi responded, “and the hostages should be returned. But the part of it that’s been so major for all of us for so many years is that there must be a two-state solution. We cannot have peace unless there’s a two-state solution.”
The outbursts resumed while she spoke, prompting Colbert to turn to the audience and order, “Please don’t interrupt my guest.”
As Colbert wrapped up the interview, Pelosi made an awkward attempt to lighten the mood, drawing a bemused smile from Colbert. “I have to say, isn’t it great to be in Chicago?,” she said. “Wasn’t the governor wonderful today?”
She was talking about Illinois’ governor, JB Pritzker, one of several targets during the comedy portion of Colbert’s show.
The host played a clip of the money line from Pritzker’s Democratic National Convention speech on Tuesday: “Take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity.”
Colbert couldn’t square Pritzker’s benevolent wealth with the greedy rich people condemned earlier by Sen. Bernie Sanders. “It’s an emotional and moral rollercoaster,” he wailed.
Then came a backhanded compliment: “I love Pritzker, but every time he appears on stage, I think his first words are gonna be, ‘Yabba dabba do!’ ”