Quincy Billboard Calls For A Stephen Colbert Presidency

QUINCY, MA – Uncle Sam wants Stephen Colbert to be the next president of the United States. Uncle Sam Rounseville, that is. The 78-year-old Quincy resident paid for a billboard in town reading "Colbert for President 2020" and has been selling pro-Colbert bumper stickers.

According to the Patriot Ledger, Rounseville legally changed his name from Leroy Lincoln decades ago and has become a patriotic celebrity in the City of Presidents. Now he's calling on the political commentator and late night host to challenge President Trump in 2020.

And Rounseville's campaign is no gimmick. He told the Ledger he plans to travel the country rallying for Colbert, stopping next in Portland, ME. Despite his patriotic personality – the last four digits of his phone number are 1776 – he said in a Ledger interview this is his first political endorsement.

Politics is nothing new for the host of CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," who cut his teeth on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and played an ultra-American caricature on "The Colbert Report" (pronounced re-porr). Colbert announced he would run for president in 2008, but his application was denied in his native state South Carolina.

As host of "The Late Show," Colbert has frequently criticized the president and said during an interview on Russian TV show "Evening Urgant" that he would run in 2020. While the latest announcement was likely farcical, Rounseville does not think the idea is too far-fetched.

"Donald Trump made it," he told the Boston Globe. "We all laugh, but you know, this last election showed you what can really happen."

Photo: Montclair Film Festival via flickr.com