Stephen Colbert Cuts Huntsman's Failed China Joke
The GOP hopeful drew groans from the audience after a less-than-PC joke that never aired.
| Posted Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, at 5:41 PM
Photograph by Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images.
If you're one of the millions of Americans who turn to Comedy Central for your political fix, then you probably saw GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman on The Colbert Report on Monday night.
You probably saw him exchange jokes with host Stephen Colbert, and when he was asked to say something nice in Chinese, you heard him say that Colbert should consider being his running mate, which prompted cheers in the studio audience.
But there was at least one noteworthy part of the back-and-forth that was left on the cutting room floor, ABC News reports. When the show played a stereotypical Chinese musical jingle, the former U.S. ambassador to China responded with a less-than-PC joke.
"When’s the delivery food coming?" Huntsman quipped. After a groan from the crowd and an awkward silence, Colbert responded, "Did that go over well in Beijing?"
The cringe-worthy exchange was cut from the broadcast due to time constraints, according to the show.
In an interview with Time after the taping, Huntsman summed up his performance like so: "I think we got a passing grade. We didn’t screw it up. I don’t think I offended too many people. Maybe there was a memorable line or two that will actually show up on television over the next couple of days, and if so, we might get that famous [Colbert] bump."
In one of the funnier exchanges between candidate and comedian, Huntsman joked that he was ready for the jump in popularity that often follows an appearance on the popular show. Colbert responded: "Governor, you may be at 2 percent. We’re going to get you up to whole milk."
