Comedian Stephen Colbert reacted to President Biden's recent announcement that the COVID state of emergency would end in May, roughly three years after it was first declared.
The President told Congress Monday that his administration will end the state of emergency around the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023.
"Take that COVID, we beat you!" Colbert said in response to the news.
"Shove that up your nose and rotate it five times!"
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But Colbert turned to his audience, pointing out that they were still masked up.
"I wish you could see the smiles on the faces in my audience. And I wish I could, too. Because they’re still wearing masks," Colbert said as the camera panned to the live audience, all of whom appeared to be wearing masks.
The audience laughed and cheered in response.
"The end is near, the end is near!" Colbert declared.
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"This is a huge moment, after all the COVID we’ve all been through — the Delta Variant, Omicron, Omicron BA-2, XBB.1.5,
" Z-95, the home of classic rock," the comedian joked.
"For the record, the White House isn’t saying COVID is gone. Just that we’re past the worst of it, and we can now treat the virus as ‘an endemic threat to public health that can be managed," Colbert said, quoting from an AP story.
"So, COVID’s no longer an emergency, just a disease we’re all going to live with forever," Colbert said, summing up the White House's assessment of COVID.
"Phew?" Colbert said, pretending to wipe beads of sweat off of his forehead.
Colbert has been a vocal supporter of stringent COVID measures, and especially vaccines. He was slammed in 2021 for dancing with performers who were dressed to look like COVID vaccine syringes, in a bit that podcast host Joe Rogan called "strange."
"Vaccines!" Colbert sang in an homage to the song "Tequila."
"Where's the joke?" Rogan asked.
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Colbert wasn’t the only late night comedian to make fun of Biden’s announcement that the COVID state of emergency would end in May.
"I’m pretty sure the public ended the health emergency a while ago. Today, I saw a guy open a Starbucks bathroom with his tongue," "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon said.
"President Biden informed Congress yesterday that he will officially end the coronavirus pandemic emergency declaration in May, which means that everyone can finally stop wearing their mask a year ago," joked "Late Night" host Seth Meyers.
Fox News’ Paul Best and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
