Stephen Colbert Says Goodbye to Obama in Full 'Colbert Report' Character

Watch Stephen Colbert resurrect one of his 'Colbert Report' characters as part of his sendoff for President Obama.

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Donald Trump's approval rating is so low ahead of his inauguration that even President Obama's harshest critics are sad to see him go. For eight years, Stephen Colbert’s alter ego, the loudmouth conservative pundit and host of Colbert Report was one of those critics, ripping the outgoing President every chance he got.

But that was then. On Thursday night’s The Late Show, Colbert’s id showed up armed with a far more conciliatory tone. Though he did say every year of the Obama administration "felt like he was strangling a bald eagle with an American flag while taking a dump on an apple pie," Colbert also extended an olive branch in his own twisted way.

"Look, I'll admit, Barack Obama made a few good choices," he said, as the screen flashed "Michelle!" "For instance, he expanded the drone program, spied on American citizens through the NSA, let the Wall Street banks get even bigger, and never closed Guantanamo."

The host also took a jab at his many conservative counterparts, who throughout his presidency did their best to stifle Obama’s policies and progress any chance they got. "Obama said he was born in the United States, so we said he wasn’t," Colbert said. "Obama said we should save the American auto industry, so we said let it die. Of course, opposing everything he said sometimes meant abandoning our beliefs. Just take Obamacare—he said it was going to help people, we said that was socialism, even though we know it was based on Romneycare."

In the end, Colbert admitted that he’s going to miss Obama, and he said that, despite their differences, four more years of an Obama White House might not be such a bad thing after all.

"So, I know, the Constitution says you’ve gotta go, but I’ll miss ya," he said. "You were a worthy adversary, a leader of vision, patience, dignity, passion, and humanity. And it really felt good fighting for the opposite of those things. And with our next president, I think we won."

"So for the last time—from me, the real Stephen Colbert," he said, "I just want to say, thanks, Obama."

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