On Thursday’s “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert looked back on the way the media covered Robert Mueller’s congressional testimony on Wednesday, and didn’t come away pleased.
Colbert’s issue was that media outlets appeared, in his words, to be bored with the presentation, rather than interested in its actual substance. Mueller, Colbert said, “agreed that Trump obstructed the investigation multiple times, Russia tampered with the election in Trump’s favor, and that the president welcomed that help, lied about welcoming it, and encouraged others to lie about it. In short: Boring!”
Colbert then showed headlines from major outlets panning Mueller’s appearance, including The New York Times and the Associated Press. Colbert also showed showed clips from CNN, FOX and MSNBC where TV personalities commented on Mueller’s vigor, plus one from Rachel Maddow, who said he looked “old.”
“And, if we’ve learned one thing from watching movies like ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Lord of the Rings,’ it’s that we should always ignore the dire warnings of the old guy,” Colbert joked.
“This is a critical moment for our democracy,” Colbert continued. “So of course our journalists are focused on what really matters, and that’s ratings baby.” He then rolled a clip from CNN in which someone said the ratings of 13 million viewers total were “a dud.”
“You can’t determine the value of Mueller’s testimony by ratings,” Colbert concluded. “If that were the case, then ‘Avengers: Endgame’ would be president of the United States.”
Watch the clip below:
TONIGHT: The results are in on Mueller's testimony and the media was not impressed. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/jaL0HzRezs
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) July 26, 2019