Late night hosts find an orange circle of mirth amid Trump's retaliatory post-impeachment purge
President Trump is done with impeachment and "ready for revenge on anyone he believes wronged him," Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show. "On Friday, Donald Trump proved that he's more spite than man when he fired impeachment witnesses Gordon Sondland and Alexander Vindman in a post-acquittal purge. Yes, Trump has gone full strongman — he's making a list of enemies, and he's changed the name of his resort to Mar-a-Gulago."
"At times like these, some people might get depressed, but not me, because this weekend there was one bright orange spot: this actual photo of Donald Trump's face," Colbert said, showing the photo in full color and then black and white, cringing, and reading Trump's angry "Fake News" response.
The Late Show had another explanation for Trump's bad makeup job, too.
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Jimmy Kimmel eased into Trump's face by discussing Sunday night's Oscars, notably surprise winner Parasite, "a South Korean film that tells the story of a family who cons their way into a house they have no business living in, and things go very wrong from there. The American version of it is called The Trumps. It's also known as Hairasite. He's now tanning with just a bucket."
Meanwhile, "Attorney General William Barr has confirmed that the Justice Department is conducting a review of whatever nonsense Rudy Giuliani dug up or digs up on the Bidens in Ukraine," Kimmel said. And "Trump is shaking those tiny fists at his enemies, he's acting to punish those who testified against him" he said. "I guess Susan Collins was right — he definitely learned his lesson after the trial. But both men who were fired testified under subpoena, which means Trump is now firing people for obeying the law. ... He's firing the people who testified against him, and no one seems to — well, I guess some people have a problem with it, but not enough people."
Late Night's Seth Meyers, for one, had a problem with Trump "retaliating against impeachment witnesses as his attorney general works with his personal lawyer to continue digging up dirt on his political rivals," including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted to convict him. "By acquitting Trump, Republicans explicitly gave Trump license to cheat again in the 2020 election, something he will absolutely do if he has the chance," Meyers said. But he, too, found humor in Trump's bad spray-tan job. Watch his roast 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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