Late-night hosts discussed the first day of public impeachment hearings, stating that it ‘was not a good start for the Republicans’

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Late-night hosts looked back on the first day of Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings and what it all means for Republicans.

Stephen Colbert

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert expressed excitement over the day. “It’s what we’ve been praying for from the beginning of the Trump presidency: the end of the Trump presidency,” he said.

Colbert said the day was “as dramatic as it was historic” before discussing the new Republican strategy: throwing Giuliani under the bus. “You cannot throw Rudy Giuliani under the bus!” Colbert said. “He already lives under the bridge.”

Reportedly, Trump wanted Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to go on record about an investigation being launched into Hunter Biden. “Trump’s kinda sounding like a needy girlfriend right there,” Colbert said.

One explanation floated for Trump’s behaviour is that he is a businessman and this is how a businessman would deal with such a situation, which Colbert rejected. “There’s only one thing Trump cuts a cheque for,” he said. “Oh my God, did he have sex with Ukraine?”

Seth Meyers

On Late Night, Seth Meyers talked about all of the evidence that has already been made public and the guilty behaviour from those involved. He played footage of Rudy Giuliani during various TV appearances, showing off text conversations on his iPhone and iPad.

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“You know you’re a bad criminal when you keep the evidence against you on multiple devices,” he joked.

As part of the Republican defense, Meyers said “they just resort to lies” before playing footage of the California congressman Devin Nunes claiming that Democrats were trying to obtain naked pictures of the president from Russian sources. “Hey man, I guarantee you, no one wants nude pics of Donald Trump. I’m not crazy about clothed pics of Donald Trump,” Meyers said.

In recounting Trump’s behaviour, Meyers noted: “Every time Trump has a choice between doing the sane thing and the crazy thing, he picks the crazy thing.”

He then spoke about the day’s biggest bombshell from Bill Taylor, the acting US ambassador to Ukraine, who claimed that an aide of his had heard Trump implicate himself on an overheard phone call in a restaurant. “Once again, these guys are the worst criminals in history,” he said.

The Republican defence during the day was that the situation was not as outlandish as it could be. “Trump should just run all the way with that and start holding his rallies in front of a giant banner that says: ‘Not as guilty as I could be,’” Meyers said.

He continued: “It’s almost inevitable that Trump will be the third president in history to get impeached.”

Samantha Bee

On Full Frontal, Samantha Bee showed Trump claiming he wouldn’t be watching the hearings as it was theatrical and all being done for drama. “Yes, if there’s one thing the Democrats are known for, it’s dazzling spectacles,” she joked.

The day showed that Trump did know about the attempt to pressure Ukraine, which Bee said was “the first time we’ve got hard confirmation of that since Trump himself”.

She continued: “Every bombshell will just be confirming things we already know. It’ll be like instead of a secret taping operation, Nixon had a TikTok.”

She summed the day up: “Today was not a good start for the Republicans.”

Trevor Noah

The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) Democrats gladly agreed to air Trump’s dirty laundry for everyone to see, and today was laundry day. pic.twitter.com/kF6xZWEPxk

On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah started with George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, who talked through his family lineage, with three generations of his family in public service – “indeed, there has been a George Kent sworn to defend the constitution continuously for nearly 60 years”.

“It almost sounds like the only reason America keeps running is because of George Kents,” Noah said. “If America is an office, George Kent is the only guy who can fix the printer.”

He said that Trump has clearly done “some messed-up shit” before showing Bill Taylor refer to Trump’s actions as unexplainable, illogical, crazy, which Noah quipped was “also the title of Trump’s new autobiography”.

He also spoke about the implicating call that Trump had with an aide, who was in a restaurant, that was so loud that everyone could hear.

“First of all, that’s rude, you’re in a restaurant, you put your phone away, you engage,” he said. “Second of all, why is Trump talking so loudly on the phone that people can hear him on the other side? He reminds me of every immigrant father ever talking on the phone.”