Stephen Colbert isn't buying the White House story about Trump, dictator of his son's misleading Russia statement


When Donald Trump Jr. was discovered to have met with a bunch of Russians who turned out to have ties to Russian intelligence, he "released a statement saying he didn't know who he was meeting with and they mostly talked about adoption," not Hillary Clinton, Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. "Those were lies, including the lie that he said it," because according to The Washington Post, President Trump dictated the statement. "He dictated it," Colbert said. "It's official — Donald Trump is a dictator, technically."
"Don Jr. gets in trouble, he literally got his daddy to write a note for him," Colbert recapped. According to his advisers, Trump "believes he is innocent" and "therefore does not think he is at any legal risk," he added, rolling his eyes. "And everyone knows you can't be convicted if you're not guilty in your mind." But "as bad as this looks for Trump — and it looks bad — it looks even worse for his lawyer," Jay Sekulow, he said.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the Trumps on Tuesday, playing a little fast and loose with the word "truth" and trying hard to make what Trump apparently did seem normal and wholesome, something any father would do for his 39-year-old son. "Yes, like any father would," Colbert said. "It's one of those father-and-son things, it's tradition, like playing catch or going fishing or preventing your son from implicating you in treason." He sang a short, modified version of the Harry Chapin song "Cat in the Cradle."
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.
That was all before Trump appointed John Kelly as chief of staff, apparently because he was willing to stand up to the president, Colbert said. "No surprise, Trump respects people who don't suck up to him, starting yesterday." Kelly has his work cut out for him. "We just learned a prankster tricked White House officials into replying to his emails," Colbert noted. "He must have used some sort of tricky subject line, like: 'Confidential and Criminal: Dirt on Hillary. Russia Collude-A-Palooza!'" The most embarrassing victims of the prank may be White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert, who is in charge of the cybersecurity portfolio, but lots of high-profile aides were tricked. In fact, the one person who caught on was Eric Trump, Colbert said. "Yes, Eric was immediately suspicious when some one in the administration tried to talk to him." Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
August 24 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in voting
Cartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugs
Talking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in Zürich
The Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle