Florida congressional candidate Jake Rush, who made headlines earlier this year when his vampire role-playing hobby was exposed, discussed politics, Florida’s third congressional district, and — of course — vampires with comedian Stephen Colbert in an interview on Thursday’s Colbert Report.
“[Rush] is running on a platform of traditional marriage, strict constitutionalism, strong national defense, and repealing Obamacare,” Colbert said of the Tea Party-backed Rush in his introduction. “[He] is everything you could want in a congressman — and maybe more than you do.”
Surprisingly, Colbert’s mockery of Rush’s past as a role-playing vampire was not the most embarrassing part of the interview. When pressed on actual issues, Rush badly stumbled. “[Incumbent congressman] Yoho vowed to oppose any military action against any country that is not a direct threat to the United States,” Colbert said. Unflinchingly, Rush responded: “Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Colbert then begged, “What country would you have military action against that is not a direct threat to the United States?”
“For instance, the battle in Syria,” Rush responded. “There’s an adage in military and law enforcement: You never want to have to take the same ground twice,” said Rush.
“Like going into Iraq twice?” Colbert asked.
“Right,” Rush responded.
Colbert then pressed him: “Which one of those should we not have done?”
Stumped, Rush replied: “I don’t know. Wars are complicated.”
After Colbert’s tounge-in-cheek questions about foreign policy and Florida’s “fighting third” congressional district, the host got to the pressing issue at hand: “Sir, for the record, are you a vampire?” Colbert asked.
Rush, slightly amused, responded with a simple “no.”
The full interview is below.
Want more analysis of the 2014 midterms? Sign up for our daily email newsletter!
Screenshot via Hulu
