Late-night hosts discussed the problems facing Republicans who are trying to defend Trump and his latest gaffe over the border wall

Seth Meyers

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host spoke about the problems the president has been facing within his own party as they have struggled to defend him against a string of problems.

Stephen Colbert on Syria ceasefire: 'Make no mistake who wins here: Putin' Read more

He started by revisiting Trump’s controversial decision to move troops out of Syria, something he claims that people are saying is a fantastic strategy. “Anytime Trump says people are saying, those people do not exist,” Meyers said. “Trump uses ‘people are saying’ the same way guy uses ‘my friend has a problem’ when they ask their doctor for Cialis.”

Kurdish people have told reporters that they feel betrayed by the president. “And that’s what Trump does, he betrays everybody,” Meyers said before showing how Trump is now distancing himself from Rudy Giuliani as he faces a criminal investigation. “Trump makes him sit outside when they’re on Air Force One,” he joked.

He then moved on to the impeachment inquiry and how “Republicans are running out of ways to defend him”. Meyers played footage of Trump claiming that Mitch McConnell told him personally that his call with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, was “innocent” and “perfect”, something McConnell has since denied.

“Even Mitch McConnell won’t back him up now,” Meyers said. “By the end of this thing, Republicans are just going to pretend they don’t know who he is.”

This week also saw Republicans “storming” secure proceedings with Congressman Matt Gaetz, comparing it to the movie 300. “That wasn’t 300, that was like three,” Meyers countered. “It makes your publicity stunt much less dramatic when you have to shuffle along like you’re in a mall at Christmas.”

It was later pointed out that many of the Republicans who forced their way in were actually allowed to be there in the first place. “You can’t storm a room you’re allowed to be in,” he said. “That’s not called storming, that’s entering.”

Stephen Colbert

On the Late Show, Stephen Colbert started by noting that Trump is supposed to be attending a World Series game on Sunday. “Of course keep in mind we don’t know for sure if it will last that long,” Colbert said. “Trump’s presidency, I mean.”

He then joked about Trump’s gaffe this week that saw him state to a crowd that he’d be building a border wall in Colorado. “Once they’re done with that, they’re building a naval base in Idaho,” Colbert said.

Trump later tweeted that this was a joke, starting the tweet with the word kiddingly. “As a fellow comedian, I get what he’s doing here,” Colbert said. “When you tell a joke, it’s very important to kick off the joke by saying kiddingly.”

He continued: “Trump wishes the Democrats were kiddingly about impeachment.”

Colbert also spoke about the Republican “storming” that occurred this week, joking about the “large herd of white men” that made their way into the secure proceedings. He played footage of Gaetz saying how much he cared for Trump and that he would never care about another president this much.

“They’re like Romeo and Juliet except everyone else wants to kill themselves,” Colbert quipped.

This week also saw Bernie Sanders unveil a plan to legalise marijuana, a popular headline with Colbert’s audience. “Bernie and marijuana are two of the easiest cheer lines in showbiz,” he said. Colbert then joked that Sanders’ new slogan would be: “Feel the Bern and hold it in until you start coughing.”