“Fake news!”
It’s been a common taunt against the media since Donald Trump was elected as president of the United States.
But on Monday night, TV’s Late Show host Stephen Colbert turned it back against Trump’s presidential campaign after news emerged of its former campaign chair being indicted, and a foreign policy advisor having pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI investigators.
In a monologue, Colbert gave particular focus to the case of George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign who acknowledged making contact with an individual known as “the professor” who had said the Russians had “thousands of emails” of “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
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Papadopoulos acknowledged that he used this person’s contacts in an effort to arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and had dealt with “high-ranking campaign officials” along the way, according to an affidavit.
This happened in April 2016, while Papadopoulos was working with the campaign.
READ MORE: ANALYSIS: Trump’s key defence torpedoed by guilty plea
“Remember how the Trump campaign swore they never knew about any attempt to coordinate with Russia?” Colbert asked viewers on Monday.
“Well, how do I put this?
“‘Fake news!'”
Colbert described the details that Papadopoulos lied about as “Papadopo-damning!”
“While working to elect Donald Trump, he repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting between the Trump campaign and government officials,” he said.
“You can’t do that! That’s Don Jr.’s job!”
READ MORE: The lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. had the Russian spy agency as a client
That joke referred to Trump’s son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who had potentially damaging information about Clinton.
The contact became known after Trump Jr. released an email chain showing his willingness to meet with the Russian contact.
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