Stephen Colbert arches an eyebrow over Colin Powell's leaked emails

Stephen Colbert on the leaked Colin Powell emails

(Image credit: Late Show)

On Tuesday night and Wednesday, several media organizations started publishing emails pilfered from former Secretary of State Colin Powell's account and posted on a Russia-linked hacker site. That "reinforces what I believe is the central message of the 2016 election: Never use email," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "The emails contain some real bombshells," he added, focusing on Powell's broadsides at Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

For example, Powell wrote that insulting Trump in public only makes him stronger. "It's true, you cannot stop Trump by calling him stupid," Colbert affirmed. "He's like Forrest Gump, okay? He was big in the '90s, somehow acquired a fortune, and runs longer than anyone thought he could. The only difference is Forrest Gump went to Vietnam." The one about Clinton is "either a back-handed compliment or a front-handed insult," he said, and it's even saucier about Bill Clinton (and that bleeped out word is not what you think, exactly). Watch for more, as well as news about national income and giraffes, below. Peter Weber

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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.