Steves “might represent the lesser Baldwins,” Colbert said, but “we’re proud.”

AD

“When you want to read about a demon who kills New England children, do you pick up a book by Bernie King? No. You go to Stephen King every time. Stephens invented the Stone Cold Stunner,” Colbert said, referring to professional wrestler Steve Austin’s signature move.

AD

Colbert made special mention of Stephen A. Feinberg, a New York billionaire who might be in line to lead a broad review of U.S. intelligence agencies. The president has repeatedly and publicly assailed those agencies for leaking information to the news media. During a news conference Thursday, Trump downplayed the possibility of Feinberg launching a review of the country’s intelligence agencies and said the move might not be necessary once his team is in place, The Washington Post’s John Wagner and Renae Merle reported.

Feinberg, a longtime friend of Trump and co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management, “offered his services,” the president said, but he also added he doesn’t think his administration will need them.

AD

Colbert said the other controversial Stephens or Steves in the Trump administration, obviously, are Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist and former executive chairman of Breitbart News; Steve Mnuchin, who ran a bank that foreclosed on tens of thousands of Americans and is now the treasury secretary; and Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior policy adviser who wrote the executive order on the president’s travel ban and spouted falsehoods about alleged voter fraud.

AD

“I’m looking forward to a Doris Kearns Goodwin book about the administration, ‘Team of Steves,'” Colbert said.

Colbert devoted the first part of his monologue with highlights of Trump’s tumultuous past week.

AD

“The president has hit a bit of a rough patch,” Colbert said, starting with the news of the resignation of Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over revelations that Flynn discussed Obama administration sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before the inauguration and later mischaracterized those communications with Vice President Pence and others.

The Post’s Sari Horwitz and Adam Entous reported that Flynn, before his resignation, denied to FBI agents that he had discussed the sanctions with the Russian ambassador.

“Now, it turns out, lying to the FBI is a felony,” Colbert said. “Flynn’s silver lining here, any decision to prosecute would fall to Trump’s Justice Department.”

AD

AD

Colbert also spent a few minutes talking about Trump’s campaign rally Saturday, just a month into his presidency.

“Is it election time already? Again? I know it does feel like he’s been in office for four years, but that does seem fast. Here’s why Trump’s doing it. Trump can’t enjoy being president because the buzzkills in our intelligence agencies keep leaking that Vladimir Putin might be the real president.”

Colbert’s regular lampooning of Trump and his administration seem to have paid off, The Post’s Callum Borchers said.

Borchers said Wednesday:

Stephen Colbert dropped the “L” word (lie) and the “F” word (you know) on the Trump White House on Monday night. It was the late-night comedian’s latest blast of politically charged commentary — primarily directed at the 45th president. And it was the kind of performance that just a short time ago seemed to risk alienating large numbers of potential viewers but now appears to be making the “Late Show” host a very big draw.

Earlier this month, Colbert beat rival Jimmy Fallon in total viewership for the first time since he replaced David Letterman in 2015.