Late night hosts find justice and jokes in 'QAnon Shaman' Jacob Chansley's 41-month sentence

published 18 November 2021

"Jacob Chansley, also known as the 'QAnon Shaman' from the January Capitol insurrection, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison," Seth Meyers said on Wednesday's Late Night. "Apparently it's hard to find a jury of his peers the same day there's a renaissance fair."

Yes, "the deer antler guy was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the Capitol riot," Jimmy Fallon said on The Tonight Show. "Right now he's trying to use an antler to lift the keys off a guard's belt." Also on Wednesday, President Biden made his fifth presidential trip to Michigan, this time to highlight GM's electric cars. "May not mean much to you, but right now Delaware is like, 'Who the hell is she?'" Fallon joked.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

"Lately the news has been kind of repetitive and somewhat depressing, so I've got to say — and I hope this is never taken out of context — thank you QAnon," Colbert said. He ran through some of QAnon's "latest unhinged whack-job hijinks" including the "hundreds of QAnon believers" who "are still in Dallas waiting for JFK to show up" and the Chansley sentence. "Not only did Chansley commit the crime of looking like an idiot, he is one," he said. "After failing to find Mike Pence in the Capitol, he scrawled a note at the vice president's dais that read: 'It's only a matter of time, justice is coming!' Which, turns out, was a note to self." Chansley's 41-month sentence is "nearly three and a half years," Colbert added, "so with good behavior he could be out in time to storm the Capitol in 2024."

"Chansley is repentant — he gave a 45-minute speech to the court, during which he cited Jesus, Gandhi, and quoted The Shashank Redemption," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live, before pivoting to a newly invented phone your dog can use to video-chat with you. "Donald Trump doesn't have a dog — not since he broke up with Mike Pence, anyway — but he does have a MyPillow guy," Mike Lindell, who "scored a one-on-one interview with the man who will eventually bankrupt him," Kimmel added. "It was like watching a ventriloquist get interviewed by his dummy."

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.