Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and Seth Meyers bemusedly check in on Trump's government shutdown


Stephen Colbert began Monday's monologue by joking that unlike the federal government, he was ending his (holiday) shutdown of The Late Show. He recapped how we got to Day 17 of the government shutdown, starting with President Trump being goaded by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh into refusing to sign bipartisan legislation he'd said he would sign. "So Trump shut down the federal government, citing Federalist Paper 58 — and I'm paraphrasing: Bawk-bawk-bawk-begawk," he said. Colbert had some fun pointing out that despite Trump's claims, no living ex-president told him to build a wall and former President Obama did not build one around his house.
Colbert also rolled his eyes at Trump's coming prime-time address on his so-called national emergency, and at the president's bizarre appropriations of Game of Thrones memes. Still, "I can understand why Trump loves that Game of Thrones wall," he said, "because the only walkers who got through were white."
The wall is "just one of the lead characters in Game of Thrones, it's also President Trump's most famous campaign promise," Trevor Noah said on The Daily Show. And if he couldn't fund it when Republicans controlled Congress, that won't change with Democrats running the House. "I bet Trump is just hoping that if it goes on long enough, America can't afford to have another election and then he can just keep on being president," Noah suggested. He tried to lift everyone's spirits by making Michael Kosta dress up as a panda, briefly.
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.
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.
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymander
Speed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
-
August 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include an unflattering jobs report, Democrat weakness, and the minimum wage
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?
Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
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
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed 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 show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed 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 room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation