US talk show host Stephen Colbert opened his late-night show on Monday (US time) by praising NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her response to the Christchurch mosque attacks.
He announced he would be cancelling a planned trip to New Zealand in the wake of the attacks, saying it was not the time to distract from the events that took place on Friday.
The Late Show was meant to air from New Zealand for one week.
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Colbert expressed his remorse for the Muslim population of New Zealand, and took a dig at US president Donald Trump in the opening monologue of his show.
"Trump has trouble showing love for things that are not him."
"He never, ever condemns the racists. After Charlottesville, he said 'there were good guys on both sides'," said Colbert.
He said the world was still "reeling from Friday's terror attack in New Zealand on two mosques by a white supremacist, in which 50 Muslim worshippers were killed."
"All of our hearts go out to all those at the Al Noor and the Linwood mosques and to the great people of New Zealand.
"I've been down there and it is the most beautiful country I've ever seen, and the Kiwis are the kindest people I've ever met."
Ardern appeared on Colbert's show last September, inviting him to New Zealand.
Newshub.
