On Tuesday, The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert reacted to the Senate’s damning report on the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, which was released earlier in the day.
“Of course, everyone saw it on TV as it happened on January 6, making this the rare book where they made the movie first,” Colbert joked.
The result of weeks of testimony and dozens of written statements, the report detailed why officers at the Capitol and officials behind the scenes were caught off guard by the pro-Trump mob. Among several communications lapses and logistical breakdowns, one Capitol Police unit, for instance, could not even access their riot equipment because it was in a locked bus.
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Also, Colbert noted, quoting a story on the report, “the FBI alerted the Capitol Police of potential ‘war’ only the night before Trump’s rally, attaching the warning to a casually worded email.”
Such an email, Colbert suggested, could end with the line, “Oh and BTW, possible war tomorrow, see attached, byyyeeeeee.”
The report also cited an officer who remembered hearing a lieutenant repeatedly ask over the radio, “Does anybody have a plan?”
“Oh somebody had a plan,” Colbert said, “and he sat in the Oval Office pounding a bucket of chicken while his followers carried it out.”
The report, titled “Examining the U.S. Capitol Attack: A Review of the Security, Planning, and Response Failures on January 6,” declined to examine former President Donald Trump’s role in inciting the riot, which left seven people dead.
“He’s the whole reason the attack happened in the first place!” Colbert exclaimed. “That’s like talking about Christmas Eve and never mentioning Santa. Who did you leave the cookies and milk out for? Rudolf the Red-Eyed Rat?”
According to CNN, questions regarding Trump’s involvement were omitted in order to ensure Republican support for the report.
