Stephen Colbert explains how we know Trump fired James Comey to stop the Russia investigation

Stephen Colbert on James Comey firing
(Image credit: Late Show)

Stephen Colbert was caught by surprise at President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey right before Tuesday night's Late Show, and on Wednesday night's show he said he'd given the situation a lot of thought over the previous 24 hours. "We have reached a milestone as a nation, and it's not just that the president fired the head of the FBI," he said. "No, here's the milestone: We've apparently elected a president who truly does not care what anything looks like."

Colbert started with the firing of Comey, "which really feels like authoritarianism 101 — which, by the way, a very difficult class; the professor is a total Nazi," he quipped. "The question is, why did Trump do it? Now, while it looks like Donald Trump fired James Comey to stop the Russian investigation, that is why." What we've learned about Trump over the past two years is that "what it seems like he's doing is exactly what he's doing," Colbert said. "There's no grand strategy. He's not some puppet master, he's not some wizard playing 3-dimensional chess — he's playing 'Hungry Hungry Hippos.'"

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.