Only hours after the official announcement was made, Stephen Colbert broke the news to his The Late Show audience that the U.S. House of Representatives launched a formal impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“This afternoon (Sept. 24, 2019),” the TV host told the crowd. “Nancy Pelosi did this thing,” before playing a clip of the official broadcast.
“Today, I’m announcing that the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry,” said Pelosi, 79.
The news launched Colbert’s audience into a frenzy of applause — 40 seconds of it, to be exact.
Pelosi’s probe centres on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from a foreign government to undermine Democratic opponent Joe Biden and help his own re-election.
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He added: “For two and a half years, Donald Trump has had scandal after scandal,” before listing off a number of controversial issues in regards to Trump.
“Russian collusion. Obstruction of justice,” began Colbert. “Saying Nazis are fine people. Being an unnamed co-conspirator to campaign finance violations. Lying about the Moscow Trump Tower. Stealing money to pay for the border wall. Faking the weather with a sharpie.
“None of these are made up,” he added, as the audience laughed the current president’s mistakes.
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Colbert added: “People have asked, ‘Is this the thing? Surely, this must be the thing,’ and every time, it wasn’t the thing. But here’s the thing. There’s a new thing, and it might be the thing.”
The “thing” which Colbert was referring to was, of course, Pelosi’s announcement.
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Throughout the 40-second standing ovation, Colbert looked both ecstatic and relieved. House band musician Jon Batiste was shown with both a giant smile on his face and a look of confusion.
Colbert continued to laugh before asking the crowd to calm down.
“OK, but how do you feel?” he jokingly asked the audience before kicking off the rest of the show.
— With files from the Associated Press
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