Former MIT Professor Trades Jabs with Donald Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Image via The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/CBS on Youtube

Decorated MIT professor and current Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz traded jabs with Donald Trump over the Iran deal on Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The Fall Rivers native and BC alum has been called President Barack Obama’s “secret weapon” during the recent talks with Iran, so it comes as no surprise that Dr. Moniz doesn’t exactly see eye to eye with the Republican presidential hopeful.

While most of Trump’s interview focused on immigration and some of his controversial statements, host Stephen Colbert decided to push the Iran issue and cheekily asked the real estate mogul if he would sign a copy of his book The Art of the Deal for Dr. Moniz.

“Would you sign it to the doctor?” Colbert asked. “Maybe something like, ‘Dear Ernie, better luck next time!'”

“I was just going to say the same thing. I was going to say, ‘Better luck next time,’ but I don’t want to be a wise guy,” Trump responded. “I want to be a nice person, but I will say that.”

It turns out, that’s pretty much what Trump wrote to the famed nuclear physicist, who was presented with the book during his chat with Colbert.

“To Ernest, better luck next time,” Dr. Moniz said as he read the inscription to the audience. “Do you happen to have a copy of the Iran deal that I could sign?”

All joking aside, the longtime MIT professor got serious during his discussion about the Iran deal and set the record straight on criticisms made by Trump and others over its effectiveness.

“The deal will go through and, frankly, I think it will stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” Dr. Moniz said.

On a lighter note, Trump and Colbert played a hilarious game where they took turns trying to figure out whether a quote was from the Republican presidential hopeful or from the comedian during his time as a fictional conservative pundit on Comedy Central.