Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah pile on Paul Manafort's wardrobe, explain Trump's live-tweeted Mueller freakout

Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah critique Paul Manafort wardrobe

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, The Daily Show)

published 3 August 2018

Thursday was Day 3 of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution of Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, and The Late Show celebrated by melding the courtroom sketches of Manafort into A-Ha's breakthrough 1986 video for "Take On Me." If you know the video, this is a treat.

Stephen Colbert began his monologue with another one of Mueller's subjects. "Our commander-in-chief had a hissy fit on Twitter yesterday," he said, "and now we know why he's freaking out. Apparently, Trump's tweetstorm came after learning Mueller wants to ask him about obstruction of justice." Mueller has agreed to limit his questions and accept some written responses, but Trump apparently wants a full interview, against the advice of his lawyers. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, wants Mueller to "put up or shut up," like in poker, and Colbert arched an eyebrow: "Oh, you'd better hope you're not playing poker, because your client can't keep a casino running." He finished with a recap of Manafort's trial and his ostrich- and python-jacket-filled wardrobe, which "looks like if a blind pimp got 100 wishes."

"If you're trying not to seem evil, maybe don't dress up as a snake," Trevor Noah agreed on Thursday's Daily Show. Trump is clearly paying attention to Manafort's trial, and he's also rage-tweeting about Mueller, problematically. "This is so insane: President Trump may have obstructed justice because he's mad about being accused of obstructing justice," Noah said. Trump's legal team doesn't see it that way. "Rudy Giuliani is making it sound like Trump's tweet was just a helpful suggestion, and that Trump is not Jeff Sessions' boss and the most powerful man in the world," Noah said. "It's like Darth Vader telling you, 'You should really consider joining the dark side, but no presh.'" He also deflated the Trump team's arguments that Trump is just "fighting back" and that you can't possibly collude in plain view, only in secret. Watch 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.