Stephen Colbert was the only late-night host to go live after Thursday night’s big primetime hearing from the Jan. 6 committee. And while they gave him plenty of material to work with, it was that video of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) comically fleeing the Capitol after riling up the rioters that he couldn’t stop talking about.
During his opening monologue, the Late Show host referred to Hawley as “the man who famously raised a fist in solidarity with the mob before entering Congress that day.”
“Turns out, once the mob broke into the building, he wasn’t quite so enthusiastic to stand with them!” Colbert added before playing the clip for any viewers who may have missed it. “Look at him go!” he said with a laugh, showing it once more with cartoon running sound effects underneath to add insult to injury.
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But it was once Colbert’s first guest for the night, MSNBC host Chris Hayes, joined the show, that they really dug into why the committee decided to highlight what the host described as a “really lovely moment.”
Asked by Colbert what the “value” of showing “Mr. Fist Up” “skedaddling” away from the mob was, Hayes smiled and replied, “The value was the committee telling Josh Hawley to go eff himself.”
While it’s “important for us to see they were running because they were scared, because they were being evacuated,” Hayes said it also exposed something very important about Hawley specifically.
“You went out there that day to go throw your fist up and play with fire, and everyone got to see you do that and see you fundraise after it and see how you talk about how you owned the libs,” he said, “but not see you with your tail between your legs when the mob is about to knock down your door.”
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