Stephen Colbert could not wait to dig into the latest bombshell about one of his favorite targets, Sean Hannity, after the House committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot set its sights on the Fox News host.
On the eve of the Jan. 6 anniversary—“that horrible day when millions of Americans stared at the TV in shock and grief and said, ‘Ah, crap, is that Uncle Dave?’”—Colbert opened his Late Show monologue with a series of jokes about “Fox News host, and proof that the Irish weren’t meant to live past 60, Sean Hannity.”
After finding an excuse to play footage of the time Hannity accidentally vaped on air, Colbert shared some of the newly revealed text messages that Hannity sent to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows ahead of the insurrection. “Hannity clearly knew what was coming,” the host said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the former president planned this coup with the knowledge of the entire Fox News lineup, including the commercials,” he added, in reference to the MyPillow guy.
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“Apparently, Hannity saw some downsides to destroying our system of representative government,” Colbert continued, in contrast to the message he was pushing to viewers in the days before and after the attack. “On January 5th, he wrote to Meadows again, saying that he was ‘very worried about the next 48 hours.’ So he either had advance knowledge of the plot or had just eaten three Taco Bell burrito supremes. Either way, he knew the next 48 hours was going to bring chaos.”
Later in the segment, Colbert turned his attention to former President Donald Trump’s misguided decision to schedule and then abruptly cancel a planned press conference timed to the anniversary. “Now, reading his statement straight would give it way more respect than it deserves, but I no longer do an impression of that crack wipe anymore,” he explained. “So, instead, we’re going to have his statement read by someone who has the same level of emotional maturity: a 7-year-old child.”
“Apparently, the real reason he canceled the event is because ‘some advisers urged the former president to reschedule for a day that would draw less attention to a low point of his presidency,’” Colbert added. “So… every day of his presidency?”
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