Stephen Colbert urges Americans to 'Be Your Own President' amid unrest after George Floyd's death

In his latest scathing attack against the United States President, late-night show host Stephen Colbert urged the American citizens to "Be Your Own President."

As the United States deals with a nationwide protest after the death of African-American George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota, Donald Trump has come under huge criticism for his way of handling the sensitive situation by threatening military mobilisation against violent protests. "Now, in civilized countries, that's called murder," Colbert said about Floyd's death.

In the latest remotely-shot episode of "The Late Show," host Stephen Colbert spoke about the lack of moral leadership from the White House during the national unrest and said: "America is now officially B.Y.O.P. – Be Your Own President."

"It's time to ask ourselves, as it is always time to ask ourselves, what kind of nation do we want to live in," Colbert said near the end of his opening monologue on Monday night.

"That answer requires moral leadership, so take it upon yourself to be a leader....You're not going to get it from the White House," the 56-year-old added.

The TV presenter, who recently returned from a brief hiatus, said that he never imagined that the COVID-19 crisis, a global pandemic, would be replaced by "America's pre-existing condition: Racism" as their lead story after a 10-days break.

George Floyd, who was taken by Minnesota police into custody for allegedly attempting to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli, died on May 25 after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. In the videos recorded by the eyewitnesses, the police officer, Derek Chavin, is seen kneeling on the 46-year-old man's neck even as he groaned and pleaded: "Please, the knee in my neck, I can't breathe."

The officer has been suspended now and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, but Floyd's family has been requesting a first-degree murder charge on Chauvin and the arrest of the other three police officers involved in taking Floyd into custody. The three police officers have also been suspended.

Before Colbert, another late-night host had criticised the POTUS for his stand in the matter. Jimmy Kimmel earlier said about Trump on his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that "we've got to vote this guy out already."

"I especially want to pose this question to older people who've seen this before in this country, who've lived this nightmare of race riots already in the '60s and '70s, '80s, now. Is this who you want leading us? A president who clearly and intentionally inflames violence in the middle of a riot to show how tough he is," the 52-year-old said in his monologue.