Late-night hosts on Trump: 'We are knee-deep in a steaming pile of consequence

Extract from The Guardian

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Late-night TV roundup

Comics, including Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon, discuss the president’s ties to Russia and continuing revelations following James Comey’s firing

Stephen Colbert ... ‘remember the old saying, elections have consequences?’ Photograph: YouTube

Guardian staff

Thursday 18 May 2017 02.21 AEST Last modified on Thursday 18 May 2017 11.02 AEST

Late-night hosts ripped Donald Trump and his administration amid further revelations over his ties to Russia.

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert started by discussing “the old saying ‘elections have consequences’. Right now, we are knee deep in a steaming pile of consequence.”

Reports have said Trump leaked classified information to Russian diplomats on a recent visit. The intel was apparently obtained from authorities in Israel, where Trump is soon to visit. “That is really going to be one awkward state dinner,” he said.
The national security adviser, HR McMaster, called the reports false, but Trump has used Twitter to say that he did in fact reveal such information. “This explains why he doesn’t write murder mysteries,” Colbert said. “Chapter 1: I did it.”
The meeting with Russia came just after Trump fired the FBI director, James Comey, who was in charge of an investigation on the Trump administration’s links to Russia. “That’s like starting a Tinder account on the way home from your spouse’s funeral,” he said.
He then played old footage of Trump talking about Hillary Clinton and how anyone who revealed classified information shouldn’t be president. “I completely agree with Donald Trump,” he said.

On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah also spoke about the apparent leak and why it’s bad news. “No one wants Russians getting information,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the information is. It could be a surprise party that your friend told you about. If you tell the Russians, it’s not going to end well. Your friend is going to wash up on the beach without his head.”

He then spoke about Trump’s inability to keep a secret. “Trump is basically like that one guy who didn’t know that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and instead, the second he got home, posts all the pictures on Instagram and tags you and your wife in it,” he said.
Some Republicans have started to speak out about their unhappiness with the president, including John McCain, who said if the reports were true, it was not good news. “You know things are bad when you’re describing your president’s actions in the same way that you’re describing the lovechild of an incestuous couple,” he said.
Fox News has focused on the White House leaks themselves rather than the information they provide. Noah compared it to a relationship: “Baby, it’s not about me cheating on you, it’s that these hoes ain’t loyal,” Noah said.

On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host spoke about the Russian meeting and how Trump reportedly went off-script. “It doesn’t shock me that Donald Trump went off-script,” he said. “This is a man who reads off a teleprompter like it’s an eye chart.”
Meyers commented that the White House “seems to be drowning in non-stop chaos caused by the president’s recklessness” and also played footage of Trump discussing Hillary’s irresponsible use of an email server.
“Of course, it turns out the Russians didn’t need to hack Hillary’s email server,” he said. “They were able to hack Trump’s mouth. The password is: tell us.”
Since Comey’s firing, reports have revealed memos describing Trump’s behavior and his attempt to stop the investigation against the former national security adviser Michael Flynn. “That’s like cutting out your victim’s tongue and forgetting he can still write stuff down,” Meyers said.

On The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon spoke about some politicians suggesting that a special investigator was required to look into Trump’s ties with Russia. “Trump says that he has nothing to hide and he’ll fire anyone who’s investigating him anyway,” he said.
There are also rumors that Sean Spicer is going to be replaced. “Spicer’s friends were going to take him out for drinks, but he said: ‘Actually, I’ve been drunk since January,’” Fallon said.