CBS’s Stephen Colbert’s Wednesday interview with Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin hit all of the usual The Late Show beats: puffball questions, Democrat strategizing, and questions from the left. More specifically, the duo would discuss hot dogs, the far-left’s alleged “alpha energy,” and Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Colbert began, “But, before we get into it, I learned something interesting: that your family's farm was responsible for the Ball Park Franks recipe… So, I have to ask, you're an expert, is a hot dog a sandwich?”
For her part, Slotlkin was emphatic that “it’s not a damn sandwich.”
Moving on to more solemn topics, Colbert recalled, “In November you were one of four Democratic senators to win states that also voted for Trump, and you say Democrats have to get what you call alpha energy.”
While gushing over a trio of far-left politicians, Colbert wondered, “What do you mean by alpha energy? Do you mean like macho or just—because people who have alpha energy. Like Bernie’s got alpha energy, and AOC’s got alpha energy. I think you've got some alpha energy, but—I don’t know, we’ll see—see how you answer this question. Mamdani has alpha energy. I think that's mostly—they’re just being honest about what they think and what they feel, and how can you inculcate more of that in the Democratic Party?”
Slotkin tried to wax poetic about sports:
Yeah, I think it’s about leadership, and I think, you know, I'm a Midwesterner, I’m a Michigander. So, for us, the alpha energy. I mean, sports is, like, our religion in Michigan, right, and it's that coach energy, how are we going to get from the dark place we are in through the tunnel to the light? And we all know we're in a dark place. We want people who have gut, who are bold, who are going to put out an opinion and not try to mealy-mouth it, and who are going, you know, push when someone does something wrong, but who are going to hug you when you do something good.”
Colbert would later conclude the interview by bringing up Israel, “Ultimately, even for American citizens who are staunch allies of Israel, what do you imagine is the end game for Israel here? Because certainly the international community sees the tens of thousands of deaths of the Gazans, of the Palestinians, as being, at this point, a horrific crime not commensurate with the horror, albeit the horror of October 7. Do you think Israel might be harming itself? You've got countries ready to call this a genocide, and how does that help the future of Israel?”
As for Slotkin, she gave the typical moderate Democrat answer about how Israel has the right to defend itself but needs to do better, “The way that this is being carried out now, particularly some of the very right-wing, very open statements by people of the Netanyahu government, to me is harming the long-term interests of the state of Israel, and that to me is an important value we also have to push.”
Many of the countries Colbert mentioned have been doing that for months if not years, so the idea that they arrived at that genocide conclusion through a careful examination of the facts is risible. Indeed, the fact that they are asking the International Court of Justice to redefine genocide tells you all you need to know.
Here is a transcript for the July 30-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
7/31/2025
12:19 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Nice to meet you.
ELISSA SLOTKIN: Nice to meet you.
COLBERT: Lots to talk about.
SLOTKIN: Yes.
COLBERT: But, before we get into it, I learned something interesting: that your family's farm was responsible for the Ball Park Franks recipe.
SLOTKIN: Our family company. Yeah.
COLBERT: Ballpark Franks, "they plump when you cook them.
SLOTKIN: Yeah.
COLBERT: Dun, dun, dun. Ball Frank Franks," yeah.
SLOTKIN: Yes.
COLBERT: So, I have to ask, you're an expert, is a hot dog a sandwich?
SLOTKIN: Yeah, I prepared for this conversation because you have a really weird view of this, which is—
COLBERT: It's not a weird view. My view is I’m asking the question.
SLOTKIN: It’s, like, definitively not a sandwich.
COLBERT: What? What are you talking about?
SLOTKIN: Thank you, band. Thank you. It’s like—
COLBERT: Why? Because the bread is hinged?
SLOTKIN: No, it's its own cultural category, it is something else entirely. The bread is hinged—
COLBERT: Yes.
SLOTKIN: The bread is hinged, but it's also like, I have heard this debate between others. But you don't cut it in half and give half a kid a half a hot dog and the other half—Thank you, band is with me, man. Thank you. It is not a damn sandwich.
COLBERT: It’s not?
SLOTKIN: And you know what? Just to be sure, I went into the ChatGPT and to Grok—
COLBERT: Grok?
SLOTKIN: Both of them. I checked them both.
COLBERT: Wow.
SLOTKIN: And AI is with me, it’s not a damn sandwich.
…
COLBERT: In November you were one of four Democratic senators to win states that also voted for Trump, and you say Democrats have to get what you call alpha energy. What do you mean by alpha energy? Do you mean like macho or just—
SLOTKIN: No.
COLBERT: Because people who have alpha energy. Like Bernie’s got alpha energy, and AOC’s got alpha energy. I think you've got some alpha energy, but—I don’t know, we’ll see—see how you answer this question.
SLOTKIN: Yeah. Yeah.
CLOBERT: Mamdani has alpha energy. I think that's mostly—they’re just being honest about what they think—
SLOTKIN: Yeah.
COLBERT: — and what they feel, and how can you inculcate more of that in the Democratic Party?
SLOTKIN: Yeah, I think it’s about leadership and I think, you know, I'm a Midwesterner, I’m a Michigander. So, for us, the alpha energy. I mean, sports is, like, our religion in Michigan, right, and it's that coach energy, how are we going to get from the dark place we are in through the tunnel to the light?
And we all know we're in a dark place. We want people who have gut, who are bold, who are going to put out an opinion and not try to mealy-mouth it, and who are going, you know, push when someone does something wrong, but who are going to hug you when you do something good. That to me, I mean, coach of the Lions Dan Campbell, thank you, is the perfect example of it. We're going to win the Super Bowl, the whole thing.
But I think it's not necessarily male or female, but I see it and a lot of our sports stars, right? I think the Kelce brothers have—I think, like, Illona Maher, right, from—rugby player. Like, she is bringing it in terms of bringing people to her sport and we need to bring some of that gut, bold leadership and so it's not progressive, moderate. It's not old, young. It is just, we are in a dark place, we all know it, we don’t need to hide about that, so how are we—and I would say, certainly for Democrats—going to chart a path not just to play defense, but to play offense people who we are and deserve to pull them back into the fold.
…
COLBERT: Ultimately, even for American citizens who are staunch allies of Israel, what do you imagine is the end game for Israel here? Because certainly the international community sees the tens of thousands of deaths of the Gazans, of the Palestinians, as being, at this point, a horrific crime not commensurate with the horror, albeit the horror of October 7. Do you think Israel might be harming itself? You've got countries ready to call this a genocide, and how does that help the future of Israel?
SLOTKIN: Yeah. I think this is the point that many of us who feel very strongly and have long said Israel has the right to exist. It has the right to be safe. It has the right to live its own life, but the conversations that we have with Israeli counterparts is like, this is not helping your long-term cause, right? We understand that you—any country in the world responds to an attack like October 7th. We would too, right? But the way that this is being carried out now, particularly some of the very right-wing, very open statements by people of the Netanyahu government, to me is harming the long-term interests of the state of Israel, and that to me is an important value we also have to push.
