Stephen Colbert asked his viewers if they'd read the WikiLeaks bombshell about the Hillary Clinton campaign buying the apartment under Donald Trump's so they could spy on him. Despite his realistic New York Times screenshot, he made that one up, he shrugged on Thursday's Late Show, "but you believed it for a second, because this election is f—ing insane. Stuff way crazier than that gets made up all the time and somehow becomes news." Colbert touched on the torrent of fake news polluting Facebook — much of it from Macedonia.
"No one knows what's true anymore, no one knows what reality is," he said, running though some of the actual conspiracy theories you may have already forgotten about this election. And since "it's become impossible to know what to believe," he said, "why not believe everything?" So Colbert literally put on a tinfoil hat, returned to his Truth Bunker, drank a little NyQuil, and spun some crazy and often amusing conspiracy theories using an impressive array of props. Some were about cats and dogs and Don McLean lyrics, but there were a few political ones thrown in as well. "Is it possible that we've all been groped by Donald Trump but just didn't feel it because of his tiny baby hands?" Colbert asked. "Why do Gary Johnson's voters still have to go to the polls on election day when they could just as easily flush their ballot down the toilet at home?" That last one's easy — to get to the other side (of 5 percent of the vote for the Libertarian Party). For the other puzzlers, watch below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
-
The battle for 21st century naturism laid bareIn The Spotlight Nudist lifestyle falling out of favour in Germany but naked attraction is on the rise in the UK
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why do young people love ASMR?Podcast Plus can US football stamp out homophobia? And why is Scottish Gallic getting a TV boost?
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
