Late night hosts debate whose Biden congratulation is worse for Trump: Putin or McConnell?


President-elect Joe Biden won the election again Monday, this time at the Electoral College, Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Show. "Yes, for the 30th time, Donald Trump's attempts to undo the election have once again, finally, come to an end, and even some of his biggest enablers are accepting reality," including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), he said. "And you know Trump's luck has run out now that Mitch McConnell has conceded the election. Because forget Putin, if Mitch can't find a way to subvert American democracy, then it just can't be done."
"Palpatine-American Mitch McConnell" stood on the Senate floor Tuesday "and bravely faced a fact," Stephen Colbert said at The Late Show. "But some in the GOP are still struggling to mince words in a way that will appease He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named." Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) won the "award for the dumbest reply." With "their boss's boss," Putin, congratulating Biden, it's time for Republicans "to face their biggest fear: reality," Colbert said. "Not a great look for Senate Republicans when the guy who interfered in our election is like, 'Come on, he won. At a certain point, you guys are poisoning democracy — and not in the right way, with poison.'"
The Late Show did have a suggestion for GOP lawmakers having a hard time congratulating Biden.
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Yes, "even Vladimir Putin knows it's over — and if someone who's had that much botox can accept reality, you can, too," Late Night's Seth Meyers told the hold-out GOP senators. "I mean, this can't be easy for him. This whole thing was his baby, and now's he's got to put up with sanctions and rebukes."
Putin recognizing Biden's victory is "a tough break for Trump," Jimmy Fallon said at The Tonight Show. "In just a few days, his Supreme Court and his supreme leader went against him," and "as if the news wasn't bad enough for Trump, moments later Rudy Giuliani popped into the Oval Office, like, 'Don't worry, boss, you still got me!'"
"The Trump Train has a lot of empty seats today," but most Republicans are "so scared of Donald Trump" they "still refuse to acknowledge" Biden's win, Jimmy Kimmel said at Kimmel Live. So Putin's acknowledgment "must have been a punch in the McRib," he said. "But wait, if Putin's offering a congratulatory handshake to Joe Biden, then what is Trump eating pellets out of?" 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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