Stephen Colbert dutifully crosses 'Russian collusion' off his list of reasons Trump is unfit to be president

Stephen Colbert adjusts to a post-Mueller world

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

By Peter Weber, The Week US

last updated 26 March 2019

Monday's Late Show started with a wistful farewell to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

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After two years, Mueller turned in his final report, and according to Attorney General Robert Barr's summary, there's insufficient evidence to charge Trump with Russian collusion. "This is, shall we say, anticlimactic," Colbert said. "It's worse than the finale of Lost. I mean, what about the smoke monster — was it real or not? And if not, why have so many members of Trump's campaign pleaded guilty to lying about meeting with the smoke monster? I don't understand. Why couldn't this have been like the ending of Seinfeld? Still disappointing, but at least they're all in jail."

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"So there it is: Mueller is an honorable man," Colbert said, and even if he left open the possibility of obstruction of justice, "he has said that Donald Trump is not a foreign asset — which is good news. But even if Trump was falsely accused, he only has himself to blame. Because he lies so much, you just don't know what to believe. ... The rest of Trump's presidency is going to be like a big bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough: He's going to promise you it's the finest chocolate chips in the world. But I promise you, if you swallow that, you're going to be eating some rat poop — which technically may not be a crime, but it's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth."

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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.

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