Late-night hosts discussed Trump’s attacks on the intelligence community and the potential existence of an N-word tape

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Late-night hosts on Wednesday discussed Donald Trump’s attacks on the intelligence community, the rise of fascism, and rumors that a tape exists in which Trump uses the N-word.

Stephen Colbert calls Omarosa's book 'the literary equivalent of day-old sushi' Read more

Samantha Bee: ‘Fascism is back for real’

TBS’s Samantha Bee covered a wave of “alt-right” candidates vying to be elected to public office.

“Fascism: not just a word to scream at your dad any more,” she began. “Fascism is back for real. From the rise of the alt-right, to the horror of Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, to the savvy new marketing of Hitler’s Mein Kampf as a hit young-adult novel, authoritarian and racism are creeping into every part of our once-OK institutions, and not just superstar racists like Donald Trump.”

Bee began with Corey Stewart, the Republican senatorial nominee in Virginia. “Stewart was formally endorsed by white nationalists and antisemites,” she said. “Normally, I wouldn’t even say the name of a super-racist nut job like this on TV, except that he fucking won the Republican primary.”

The host then noted Stewart’s affiliations with Jason Kessler, organizer of last summer’s violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. She also aired audio of Stewart saying “weak Republicans couldn’t apologize fast enough” after the rally.

“Yup, Corey Stewart called mainstream Republicans weak for condemning a Nazi rally that killed an innocent woman,” Bee said. “Everyone remembers Churchill’s famous speech: we shall ignore Nazis on the beach, we shall ignore Nazis on the landing ground.

“Some far-right candidates,” she explained, “have actually been elected to GOP positions already, like baby-faced Washington state bigot James Allsup.”

In a video, Allsup, 22, can be seen saying “low-IQ migrants cannot function in societies where you need to get jobs”.

Bee replied: “You can’t guess someone’s IQ based on where they came from, which is great news for Americans, because you make us look really fucking dumb.”

In another clip of Allsup, the precinct committee officer for the Whitman county Republican party, he encourages other members of the alt-right to take over their college Republicans chapters.

“That’s so great. Nazis understand grassroots organizing better than the Democrats,” Bee joked. “We’re just going to get some sitcom stars to sing Fight Song and call it a day.”

Stephen Colbert: ‘The White House lying perch’

“For the first time ever, a president has used the power of his office to punish members of the intelligence community who criticized him, specifically former CIA director John Brennan,” began Stephen Colbert, who added that Sarah Sanders announced the move from the “White House lying perch”.

At Wednesday’s press briefing, Sanders said Trump has a “unique constitutional responsibility to protect the nation’s classified information”.

Colbert went on: “The official reason Trump gave for revoking Brennan’s clearance? Brennan leveraged his status to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, including wild outbursts on the internet.

“I’d say that’s the pot calling the kettle black, but there may be tapes of it calling the kettle something much worse,” Colbert joked. “They’ve been talking about doing this thing for a month. Doing it today is just an obvious attempt to distract our attention from America’s sweetheart, Omarosa.”

After discussing rumors that a tape may exist of Trump using the N-word, Colbert showed clips of the president insisting he is “the least racist person ever”.

“You can tell somebody’s not something when they protest exactly the right amount,” the host said. “Hey, welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Hannibal. Just wanted to say, I don’t eat people. In fact, I am the least people-eating person ever.”

Colbert then went on to share footage of Trump’s 1989 interview with Bryant Gumbel, in which he says a “well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white”, adding if he were starting out in business he’d want to be a “well-educated black”.

“Yes, I would love if you were a well-educated black man, too. Specifically, this one,” Colbert said, showing a photo of Barack Obama.

Trevor Noah: ‘Dropping more tapes than Lil Wayne in his prime’

Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah addressed the potential existence of a tape in which Trump used the N-word.

“Omarosa has been dropping more tapes than Lil Wayne in his prime,” Noah began. “But all the talk has been about the one tape that we haven’t heard.”

Noah then aired footage of Sarah Sanders saying she “can’t guarantee” the tape doesn’t exist.

The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) Is there a tape of Trump saying the N-word? If it surfaces, will there even be consequences? @roywoodjr breaks it down: pic.twitter.com/Ihyk0fGhe8

“You can’t guarantee it?,” he asked. “That’s like your wife asking, ‘Harold, can you guarantee me that I’ll never see an underwater sex tape with you and Bigfoot?’ And you go, ‘Look honey, I can’t guarantee anything. I do know that I love you, though.’”

“The truth is, we don’t know if there’s a tape,” Noah added. “But that hasn’t stopped everyone from having an opinion on the tape.”

In a newsreel Noah aired, political pundits speculate that the tape would “change nothing”, be a bombshell and “increase his support”, while one commentator said Trump would have to be heard saying the N-word “over and over again” for it to have any impact on his support.

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“What? This guy’s making it sound like if you use the N-word once it doesn’t count,” Noah said. “You realize you don’t get a free trial with the N-word. It’s racism, not Hulu.”