U.S. late night host Stephen Colbert took over the stage at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, Ohio with a Hunger Games themed prank.
The political event, which officially opens at the city’s Quicken Loans Arena on Monday (18Jul16) will see controversial billionaire Donald Trump anointed as the Republican candidate for November’s (16) presidential election.
A video posted on YouTube on Sunday shows the funnyman interrupting preparations for the convention by taking to the stage dressed in a blue wig as Hunger Games host Caesar Flickerman, played by Stanley Tucci in the dystopian adventure films.
The Late Show host took over the microphone to deliver a short address to those finalising preparations for the mass political rally, saying that he was at the event to “hereby launch and begin the 2016 Republican hungry for power games” while banging a judge’s gavel.
Before he could continue to mock Republican politicians from their own convention stage, he was escorted off stage by what appeared to be a member of security staff.
“I know I’m not supposed to be up here, but let’s be honest, neither is Donald Trump,” Stephen said as he was led from the stage.
The 52-year-old satirist was in the arena to film for The Late Show, and it is unknown if his stage turn was part of a planned segment or a spontaneous prank.
It’s not the first time Stephen has donned the Hunger Games outfit to mock U.S. politicians, as he has appeared in character as Caesar a number of times on his show to deliver humorous takes on the state of American politics.
For The Late Show‘s coverage of the RNC the host will be joined by his old sparring partner Jon Stewart, with whom he appeared on comedy news program The Daily Show from 1997 until receiving his own spin-off show, The Colbert Report in 2005.
The RNC will run from Monday to Thursday (18-21Jul16), with Trump delivering his acceptance speech as the Republican Party’s nominee for president on the closing day of the convention.
