Stephen Colbert gleefully bit the hand that pays him on “The Late Show” Thursday.
The host slammed his network, CBS, for hiring former Donald Trump official Mick Mulvaney as a contributor in its news division. (Watch the video below.)
“What the fuck?” he exclaimed, though the last word was bleeped out.
Colbert explained Mulvaney’s shoddy history as Trump’s “craven toady” while serving as the former president’s acting chief of staff. Mulvaney admitted that Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in exchange for political dirt (then tried to walk it back), dismissed the emerging COVID-19 crisis as a media plot to take down Trump and promised that if Trump lost the 2020 election, he’d concede gracefully. “He’s Nostra-dumbass!” Colbert cracked of the far-right Mulvaney.
“Why would the Tiffany Network’s venerable news division put this craven toady to a tyrant on their payroll?” Colbert asked.
In an apparent disclaimer to appease the network brass, Colbert said he was joking. But that’s what comedians do ― use humor to comment on serious issues.
Mulvaney’s new gig seemed to be preordained in an an earlier speech to staffers by CBS News President Neeraj Khemlani. In a recording obtained by The Washington Post, he said the Republicans would likely “take over” in the midterm elections, and that the network required more perspective from their side of the aisle.
“They’re not just reporting the news anymore, they’re predicting it now,” Colbert jabbed at his network.
Fast-forward to the 8:20 mark.