UPDATE with video: “It is great to be back. I did not watch a lot of news over the week because I like to celebrate my love of this country by not watching what’s happening to it,” Stephen Colbert said, in his first original Late Show since taking off the July 4th week.
“Everyone” still is talking about Russia, but there is no evidence of collusion, or even the desire to collude with the Russians, by anyone in the Trump campaign – “is something that was true 48 hours ago,” Colbert snarked, seguing to the weekend’s big New York Times report Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer with Kremlin connections, who promised to reveal damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
“Wow! You could knock me over with whatever you use to knock over someone who isn’t the least bit surprised!” Colbert said.
The meeting took place at Trump Tower and included Jared Kushner and then campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Not a smoking gun, Colbert conceded, calling the report a “gun meeting with a Russian bullet about their mutual desire to smoke.”
Donald Jr. originally issued a statement saying the lawyer primarily discussed adoption of Russian children. But after NYT reported Donald Jr. only took the meeting because the lawyer promised to provide information damaging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, “like all the most innocent people, Don Jr. offered second explanation.
Which Colbert broke down for his viewers:
We’re supposed to believe that, during the height of the presidential campaign, on the advice of a guy he met at the Miss Universe Pageant, Donald Jr. said:
Hey Jared, Paul, I know you guys are a little busy right now. But I need you to come to a meeting
Jared, Paul: With who?
Donald Jr: I don’t know.
Jared, Paul: About what?
Donald Jr.: I’m not telling you.
Jared, Paul: Okay, we’re in.