Stephen Colbert criticises Florida judge for dropping mask mandate: ‘You dummy’

‘You can’t let Florida make health decisions for the entire country,’ host joked

Stephen Colbert has criticised Florida Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle for her ruling to drop the mask mandate on planes and public transport.

On Tuesday (19 April) night’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the talk show host denounced the recent decision in his opening monologue.

“Out of the blue, a federal judge struck down the mask mandate for planes and public transport,” Colbert began.

“Which is great news for anyone who ever road public transport and said this is way too sanitary,” he joked.

He continued: “No surprise, the ruling comes from a Tampa-based federal judge. You can’t let Florida make health decisions for the entire country.

“That’s not smart, the Florida food pyramid is just gator jerky and meth.”

The host added: “This judge claimed that the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] exceeded their legal authority by requiring masks and that their power was limited to things like cleaning property, not requiring people to take hygienic steps.”

(YouTube/ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert)

“The judge clarified her ruling, explaining: ‘Wearing a mask cleans nothing, at most, it traps virus droplets.’ That’s the mask’s job you dummy!” he retorted.

Within hours of the ruling, several major US airlines – American, Delta, Southwest, United and Alaska Air – announced that masks will no longer be required to board their flights.

Colbert further clarified that Mizelle, “the genius jurist behind the ruling”, had been appointed by US former President Donald Trump after he lost the 2020 election.

“At the time, Mizelle had received a ‘not qualified’ rating from the American Bar Association and had never tried a criminal or civil case,” he said.

Late Night with Stephen Colbert airs weekdays at 11:35pm on CBS.