Late-night TV hosts on Trump: 'The world's most famous liar'

Extract from The Guardian

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Late-night TV roundup

Comics, including Trevor Noah and Stephen Colbert, discussed the James Comey memo and how Fox News has been handling the story

Trevor Noah: ‘People are talking about President Trump being in real trouble this time – which means for Trump, it’s a normal Wednesday.’ Photograph: YouTube

Guardian staff

Friday 19 May 2017 01.10 AEST Last modified on Friday 19 May 2017 03.52 AEST

Late-night hosts discussed allegations that Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice by requesting that James Comey stop his investigation into Michael Flynn’s ties with Russia.

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert began by talking about Trump traveling to a Nato summit in Brussels after describing the military alliance as “obsolete” during his campaign. “That’s going to be a little bit uncomfortable,” he said.

Colbert continued: “Thing is, the US is the most important member of Nato. That’s like being the best man at a wedding and standing up and saying: ‘Congratulations to the happy couple, monogamy is obsolete, everybody into the flesh pile.’”

There have been reports that Nato is having to Trump-proof the visit for him. “Traditionally, Trump-proofing means locking the door to the Miss USA dressing room,” Colbert said.
He went on: “With Trump around you, you’ve got to put the hooks on the cabinets, you’ve got to put bumpers on the coffee table, one of those twisty caps to childproof the nuclear button.”

On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah started by commenting on another day of revelations. “People are talking about President Trump being in real trouble this time, which means for Trump, it’s a normal Wednesday,” he said.

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He referred to Trump taking his first presidential trip abroad this weekend. “At this point it feels less like a trip and more like he’s fleeing the country,” he said.
Noah noted that anything unearthed by the investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia could affect his travel plans. “If this investigation goes on long enough, Trump might not be able to get back home, because America doesn’t let criminals back in the country,” he said.
After reports of Comey’s memo describing Trump’s alleged request to let the Flynn case go, the phrase “obstruction of justice” has been frequently used. “Obstruction of justice is to impeachments what that funky robot voice is to a Daft Punk song,” he said. “It’s the key ingredient.”
He then referred to Fox News as “aggressively ignorant” because it has tried to steer the latest news to fit into its pro-Trump agenda. One of the key elements of the channel’s strategy has been to note that Obama should have been investigated as well. “You know you have a shitty case when your only defense is: but what about the other people?” he said.
Noah is in no doubt over whom to trust at the moment. “There were only two people in that room: one of them took notes, and the other one is the world’s most famous liar,” he said.

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host said: “Not only is Trump corrupt, he’s not even smooth about it,” he said. “He sounds like a guy who tries to bribe the maître d’ at a restaurant but slips him a handful of loose change.”
Comey’s memos also reportedly referred to Trump telling him yet again how many people attended his inauguration. “Oh my God, dude, let it go,” Meyers said. “You’re like an actor who had one line in a movie 30 years ago.”

He played footage of Trump speaking yesterday, using a speech to coast guard graduates to complain about how unfairly he was being treated. After Trump slowly stumbled towards using the word “surety”, Meyers said: “Trump approaches three-syllable words like a bear approaches a beehive.”
He continued: “It’s been just over 100 days. It’s very possible that the Trump presidency will actually be shorter than the NBA playoffs.”
All news networks have been struggling to get members of Trump’s party to speak. “Even Fox News can’t get Republicans to come on,” he said. “That’s like E! not being able to book a Kardashian.”
Meyers noted that the main person sabotaging the presidency was the president. “Trump is harming his presidency so much, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was throwing it because he has money on his own impeachment,” he said.

Finally, on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon also made reference to the cavalcade of Trump revelations. “At this point, I feel like Trump has a phone reminder for every day at 4pm that says: ‘Create giant new scandal,’” he said.

He also spoke about the possibility that Trump might get impeached. “You can tell Trump’s worried because today he frantically signed an executive order to make all prisons super nice,” he said.