Late night hosts explain why Senate Republicans should vote to convict Trump, explore why they won't

Late night comedians wrap up Trump impeachment
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

House Democrats wrapped up their impeachment case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, and their videos and other evidence "make it pretty obvious that Trump incited the rioters," Trevor Noah said on Thursday's Daily Show. "They were wearing Trump hats, carrying Trump flags, and they all just watched Trump speak, and they are chanting 'Fight for Trump!'"

"I mean, if one guy stormed the Capitol because he thought you said it to him, maybe you can just blame him," Noah said. "If an entire stadium of people misunderstood you in the exact same way, I don't know, man, that sh-t's on you. But if there's one theme of this trial, aside from Trump being super guilty, it's Republican senators not caring that Trump is super guilty." Seriously, he said, "these senators are a jury for a trial of the president, but instead they're acting like bored middle schoolers."

The Democrats' closing "presentation was so emotional and compelling that Republicans almost looked up from their phones," Jimmy Fallon deadpanned at The Tonight Show. "It's been a rough couple of days for Trump. Thanks to what he said and tweeted, not only is he on trial in the Senate, he's also no longer in Disney's Mandalorian."

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This impeachment trial is "kind of like The Empire Strikes Back: We already know how it ends, but we're watching it anyway," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. He narrowed down the jury pool to 26 GOP senators who might be persuaded to convict. "The Democrats made an excellent case, so much so, Trump's lawyers are now only planning to use three of the 16 hours they're allowed to rebut," Kimmel said. Or "maybe they realized he's only planning to pay them for three of the hours."

The House impeachment managers "were clearly, deeply, sincerely, desperately trying to make any human connection as fellow citizens to the Republican senators in that gallery and convince them to put country before party," Stephen Colbert said at The Late Show. "So, doomed from the start." But no matter how low the Republicans duck, the Democrats were right about Trump, he added. "If we don't hold him to account, it will happen again — it did happen again!" He showed how Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) closed out Trumps last impeachment trial.

The Daily Show's Jordan Klepper talked to Schiff, and a handful of Washingtonians, about which impeachment was better. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

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.