Less than an hour before The Late Show’s Wednesday night taping began, The New York Times published its op-ed from an anonymous senior official who self-identified as “part of the resistance inside the Trump administration.”
“When it comes to Trump, whatever you think is happening, is happening,” Stephen Colbert said during his monologue. “Mr. President, they traced the resistance, it’s coming from inside the White House!” he exclaimed. “Get out of there! And stay out of there!”
Later, Colbert asked the night’s big guest, John Kerry, what he makes of someone who is trying to reassure the public by saying that the president “may be unhinged and mercurial and constantly lying and doesn’t know what he’s doing, but it’s OK because there are adults in the room.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“It scares the hell out of me,” Kerry responded, before joking the only “reassurance” is for the legacy of James Buchanan because he’s “no longer the worst president.”
“Actually, it’s really serious,” Kerry, who has not yet ruled out another run for the presidency in 2020, added. Turning to one of the many disturbing claims from Bob Woodward’s upcoming book Fear: Trump in the White House, he said, “You have somebody stealing something off the president’s desk in order to prevent him from making a decision.”
When Colbert asked him if he ever had to “steal a treaty” off Obama’s desk when he was working in that administration, Kerry laughed, shook his head and said, “No.”
“What it really means is we don’t have a president,” Kerry said. “We have a president who is there. But he is not capable of doing the job or living up to the responsibilities.” He added that he has received emails from friends abroad who ask him what’s happening to the United States of America. “It’s really scary,” he said.
“Foreigners, they’re just like us,” Colbert replied.
