Stephen Colbert calls out President Trump for claiming he’s been exonerated by the Mueller report. (Photo: ScreenCap)
Donald Trump falsely claimed “complete and total exoneration” as a result of Robert Mueller’s report on Russian collusion, but he wasn’t off the hook as far as late night comedians were concerned. The president still took his lumps.
Stephen Colbert, once again, did a better job deconstructing Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of the report than most TV pundits, excluding Fox News of course.
Colbert cited the portion of Barr’s memo that stated “while this report does not conclude the president committed a crime, it does not exonerate him.”
What? What? But that’s not what the president said. Trump called it a “complete and total exoneration.”
“No, no, it wasn’t,” Colbert countered. “He says it doesn’t exonerate you.”
The news, of course, was shocking to most TV news shows, which focused mostly on Trump’s false claims.
“In case you’re coming to us from under your rock. I hope you all are sitting down, and you all are, good. This weekend we received some troubling news… our president is not a Russian asset,” he intoned. “It just feels strange to say.”
“Now, I say troubling news because if Trump is not working with the Russians, then what the hell is wrong with him. If they don’t have anything on him why does he keep saying nice things about Vladimir Putin?”
Which brings us back to Fox News. Fox talking heads were repeating the Trump line without question and calling for apologies from Democrats and the “mainstream media.”
“I will start,” Colbert said solemnly. “I have said one or two things about Donald Trump, like how he’s a terrible president. So, ah. I’m just going to bite the bullet and say it: Mr. President if you’re watching, and I know you are, I’m sorry you’re a terrible president.”
Meanwhile, Trump and allies made it known they intend to use the report’s conclusions to attack opponents they say unfairly accused the president of wrongdoing, according to The Washington Post.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called on House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) to resign. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said he planned to investigate the Department of Justice and the FBI.
Of course, the full report has yet to be released.
“It remains unknown whether it includes damning new details that question the actions of Mr. Trump or his associates, even if they do not represent a crime,” according to The New York Times.
Check out the video below.