Stephen Colbert could not wait to dive into the latest bombshell from the Jan. 6 investigation on Tuesday night’s Late Show, spending the bulk of his monologue on the recently revealed text messages that were sent to Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the insurrection.
The host began with the messages from Donald Trump Jr., who begged Meadows to get his father to deliver an Oval Office address, writing, “He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP.”
“OK, that reveals two things about Don Jr.,” Colbert said. “One, he knew his dad was responsible and failing to lead. And two, he does not have his father’s cellphone number.” He joked that it would be “too risky” for Trump to give his eldest son his number because “he might give it to Eric.”
From there, Colbert moved on to the text from Fox News host Laura Ingraham, who wrote to Meadows, “Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”
“So, the January 6th attack scared Laura Ingraham,” he added. “And keep in mind, her side gig is appearing in your bathroom mirror if you whisper ‘Medicare for All’ three times.”
But even more damning than that was how her “honest reaction off camera” compared to her on-air response in the immediate aftermath of the attack when she “kept up the lies” and claimed “antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Colbert shot back. “They weren’t his supporters. That’s why, to get them to stop, Laura sent all those panicked texts to the man responsible, President Bob Antifa.”
“Now, keep in mind, these Fox News hosts pushed the big election lie for months leading up to January 6th,” he added. “Then when their obedient viewers stormed the Capitol, they acted all surprised.” Colbert said he reminded him of when Charles Manson said, “They did what?! I was kidding! Helter sorry.”
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