Stephen Colbert skewers Rachel Maddow's Trump tax returns debacle with a meandering joke

(Image credit: Late Show)

published 16 March 2017

Rachel Maddow's big (purported) scoop on President Trump's 2005 tax returns on MSNBC Tuesday night has been widely pilloried as an over-hyped nothingburger that probably, on net, helped Trump, but she was also mocked for her long, digressive introduction to the two pages of documents and the man who got them in the mail, investigative reporter and tax specialist David Cay Johnson. On Wednesday's Late Show, Stephen Colbert took his whack, sans glasses but with what looks like a touch of eye shadow and a Maddow-esque shirt-and-jacket outfit. He never mentioned Maddow or MSNBC, but he didn't need to. Watch his shocking unveiling of a very old joke 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.