Stephen Colbert succinctly explains Trump's Ukraine scandal for a confused Fox & Friends host
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President Trump has been personally reaching out to other world leaders to, apparently, solicit their help to settle scores from 2016 and smear a leading 2020 rival. Tuesday's Late Show imagined how other nations might react when 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. comes ringing now.
Yes, "Trump called Australia and asked them to help discredit the Mueller investigation," Jimmy Fallon said at The Tonight Show. "Yep, he asked Australia to work against U.S. intelligence. Today, Trump said, 'Everything is the opposite down there, so it's technically not treason.'"
The White House is still trying to come up with its impeachment strategy, and Trump is taking the lead, testing out various defenses in what one White House insider compared to a "master baker trying out recipes," Stephen Colbert said at The Late Show. "Yes, Trump is holed up in the White House, furiously master-baking."
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"So Trump is struggling to find a coherent defense against his impeachment, but on the other hand, so is every other Republican," Colbert said, pointing to "new" Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). "But not all of Trump's defenders are feigning ignorance; some are sincerely ignorant, like Fox & Friends' Ainsley Earhardt." Colbert took out a chalkboard to connect the dots for her and explain "the abuse of power at the heart of the Trump administration." 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.
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