Rachel Maddow tells Stephen Colbert she's really 'enthused' to see what happens after Trump is impeached

Stephen Colbert and Rachel Maddow talk impeachment

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

President Trump is facing impeachment over asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a political rival. "I think that you are America's premier explainer," Stephen Colbert told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday's Late Show. "Are you at all frustrated that the present scandal is so damn simple?"

"You can't even sleuth your way through it," Maddow said, laughing. "Because in order to find out that Trump called Ukraine, what we had to do was ask Trump, 'Did you call Ukraine?' And he said, 'Yes, here's the evidence.' ... I mean, there's other contextual stuff I can make long segments about, but in terms of whodunit? He did it, and he admits it, and now he's going to be impeached for it."

"Part of what's important now, what I'm sort of enthused about in terms of people being so into it, is that we really know nothing about what's going to happen once he gets impeached," Maddow said. "What's the result of that politically? You know, what does it do to the two parties, what does it do to the next election? Blah, blah, blah, we have no idea." She said she thinks the Republican senators in whose hands Trump's fate rests are waiting to decide how they'll vote "as it plays out," but Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are going to find "their own necks at risk here."

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Among the impeachment unknowns is "how Donald Trump reacts to being held accountable for his actions — that's not been a recurring theme in his life," Maddow said. "Not well, I'm guessing," Colbert said. "He's a sore winner." Maddow said there's also a second whistleblower alleging improper handling of Trump's tax returns at the IRS. "That is a whistle I would like to listen to," Colbert said, and Maddow said that may happen.

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Below, you can watch Maddow talk about her new book, Blowout, and how Russia's vast oil and gas supplies have made it weak and erratically aggressive on the world stage. 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.