Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek's network of contributors
There's a new kind of casting call in Washington, and Stephen Colbert is having a field day with it.
On the Tuesday, November 19 episode of The Late Show, the 60-year-old talk show host couldn't help but poke fun at President-elect Donald Trump's latest pick for his cabinet — none other than daytime TV's own Dr. Mehmet Oz, set to oversee Medicaid and Medicare.
"Trump is still just picking people he sees on TV," Colbert joked. "Next up, the head of Amtrak goes to Thomas the Tank Engine."
The comedian took aim at Oz's qualifications, zeroing in on 78-year-old Trump's praise for the physician's nine Daytime Emmy Awards. "I didn't know winning TV awards qualified you to administer our medical system," Colbert quipped. "I've never heard anyone yell, 'This man is having a heart attack! Quick, does anyone here have an outstanding achievement in formative daytime talk?'"
Colbert also referenced Oz's history of promoting dubious medical treatments, including "a debunked cure-all called colloidal silver, which, if taken in high quantities, can cause a permanent bluish-gray discoloration of the skin."
"So seniors, you may lose your Medicare, but maybe your grandkids will want to visit Nana Smurf," he jested.
Switching gears, Colbert then took aim at congressman-turned-TV-host Sean Duffy — now nominated as Secretary of Transportation. "He was in Congress, but we all know that's not why Trump picked him," the CBS icon explained. "It's because he's the co-host of Fox Business' The Bottom Line."
Wrapping up his critique with a personal pitch, Colbert said, "Again, everyone with a TV show gets a call" before throwing his own hat into the ring. "Where's my job offer? Where!? Where is it?"
The former Colbert Report star even proposed a deal to Trump: "I will stop talking about you altogether if I get an ambassadorship. But I mean a good one. I'm talking any country mentioned in the song 'Kokomo.' Ok, Bermuda, Bahama — I'd be willing to be ambassador to 'come on, pretty mama.'"