CBS’s Stephen Colbert had an emergency and unscheduled interview with former USAID Administrator Samantha Power on Tuesday’s edition of The Late Show in an attempt to save the agency from President Donald Trump. While Colbert thought he was simply interviewing an expert on what USAID actually does, in reality, Power’s love of the agency meant that she and Colbert spent the entire interview avoiding the main issue with USAID.
Colbert began with a softball, “JFK established USAID in 1961, which, you know, this was a product of the Cold War, USAID. What was its mission? Why is that mission still vital now that the Cold War is over? Why do we still need it?”
Power gave the academic answer that “Kennedy was thinking about the battle for hearts and minds and what would win America the affection of global publics, so this is an investment in our stability, in our security, in our alliances, and that is what USAID has done since Kennedy created it. Helped eradicate smallpox, on the verge of eradicating polio. Again and again, USAID is on the front lines of some of the hardest challenges that our country faces and some of the most vulnerable people in the world face.”
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