Late-night hosts had plenty of material to work with Wednesday thanks to Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, who said during yesterday’s impeachment inquiry that he was following President Trump’s orders when he pressured the Ukraine into investigating the POTUS’ political rivals, including former Vice President Joe Biden.
In short, Sondland confirmed there was a clear “quid pro quo” — something Trump has denied consistently — and Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Samantha Bee and Trevor Noah had a field day with the bombshell testimony.
Kimmel actually showed a supercut of numerous times Trump has publicly said “no quid pro quo,” and the many, many tweets including the words.
“Staffers in the White House were said to be shocked and blindsided by the testimony this morning, as it would appear our president has been caught orange-handed,” Kimmel said during his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ monologue. “And I don’t think Gordon Sondland is getting his $1,000,000 back, I really don’t.”
Colbert also rolled tape of Sondland confirming the “quid pro quo” before shouting: “Yes! He said it on national television! I’m satisfied I yield the balance of my time to Congressman Jack Daniel’s.” *cue him taking a quick shot*
“Now, Sondland made it clear about this whole Ukrainian scheme, none of this why his idea,” Colbert added. “Historically speaking, there is no defense more heroic than ‘we were just following orders.’”
See Kimmel’s clip above and Colbert, Meyers, Fallon, Corden, Bee and Noah’s below.
Stephen Colbert, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”:
Seth Meyers, “Late Night With Seth Meyers”:
Jimmy Fallon, “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”:
James Corden, “Late Late Show With James Corden”:
Samantha Bee, “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee”:
Trevor Noah, “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah”: