Turns out that the winner of new Late Show host Stephen Colbert's contest did not get their question for GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush asked on the air.
After Bush launched a fundraiser raffle for a spot in the audience of Colbert's debut show, on which Bush appeared, Colbert created his own contest, with the "lucky winner" also invited to the taping, where Colbert said he would ask a question of Bush submitted by the winner. The money from Colbert's contest went to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which goes to injured vets and their families.
Colbert did not promise the question would be on-air, only that he would ask it, which he did, raising $183,000 for the fund he told Bush. But the question and answer were cut from the show due to time considerations.
In the age of online they were not lost, of course, but made it onto the Late Night website as a "Jeb! Bonus! clip!"
The question was about background checks for gun sales, likely prompted by the recent slayings of a Roanoke, Va., news crew. Certainly Bush's answer appeared to reflect the concerns about guns in the hands of mentally unstable people.
Bush said in Florida, where he was governor, there are background checks with 72-hour waiting periods.
"I think the next step is to figure out ways to make sure if people have mental health issues," said Bush, "which is really the common denominator in a lot of these tragic cases."
