Henry Kissinger has rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s most powerful leaders in his long career, from American Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford to Chairman Mao. And now, he can add Stephen Colbert to that list.
On Monday night, Kissinger appear on the Colbert Report, where he talked about China, chess and the Cold War. In an interview sometimes weighted with silent pauses, Kissinger defused some of the more absurd questions with a flat deadpan and straight answers.
“Would you go so far as to say, ‘USA number one?” Colbert asked early on.
“I would say now we are still number one,” Kissinger responded. “I believe we will remain number one for any foreseeable future.”
Colbert’s questions grew more pointed toward the end of the interview when he asked Kissinger if he could justify some of the most criticized actions the government had taken under his watch, such as the U.S.’s secret bombing campaign in Cambodia.
“That sense of an existential threat, did it excuse everything on both sides?” Colbert asked.
“I think it was very important to win the Cold War because the issue then was whether we would continue to have a democratic society, or whether a sort of Stalinesque, materialistic totally planned system would totally take over the world,” Kissinger responded.
“Like Obama is setting up?” Colbert shot back.
That time, Kissinger didn’t have a response.
Watch the video below:
Part 1:
Part 2:
