Stephen Colbert Offers To Live-Circumcise ‘Jewish’ Paul Ryan On His Show
Stephen Colbert really tore Paul Ryan a new one this weekend.
Responding to last week’s revelation that Catholic Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has roughly 3 percent Ashkenazi-Jewish ancestry, Colbert asked the question weighing on so many of our hearts: “Haven’t the Jewish people suffered enough?”
He went on to point out that if Ryan really is Jewish he should be circumcised — and it’s not “shear” (hehe) imagination to think he could be — adult male converts to Judaism who were not previously circumcised usually undergo a symbolic bloodletting, as this Forward writer explains in a harrowing account. Ryan, who has joked that he’s now “officially a member of the family” should pay “the price of admission,” argued Colbert — a traditional brit-milah, or ritual circumcision.
“That’s why we at The Late Show are excited to offer you the chance of a lifetime with The Late Show’s Live Paul Ryan Bris-stravaganza!” he announced. “Mohels are standing by,” he said, explaining that Ryan is welcome to drop by the show for a live communal event.
“Think of it this way, Paul,” he said. “The foreskin is only one percent of the penis. And we know how much you love cuts for the one percent.”
Watch the full clip here:
Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30