Rachel Maddow may have unintentionally ginned up a massive hype machine yesterday after the MSNBC host announced she was in possession of Donald Trump’s 2005 tax return. But gin it up she did, and so it is that when the tax return failed to reveal anything particularly damning about the 45th president of the United States, the internet expressed displeasure as it always does – mockery via memes.
The mockery continued well into Wednesday, and unsurprisingly Stephen Colbert used “The Late Show” tonight to weigh in with a joke of his own. In a clip later posted to Twitter, Colbert promises his audience a joke. But first, he delivers a lengthy explanation of the joke, its background, historical context, necessity, and so-on. He even interrupts himself midway through, setting up the joke with a lengthy digression. And he does it all in the declaratively urgent tone and heavy mountain of source citations that Rachel Maddow is known for, while dressed in the business casual style typical of MSNBC pundits.
Oh, the joke? “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Want to know the answer? Alas, you never do get to find out. Colbert, regretfully, pauses before the punchline to take a commercial break.
See for yourself below.
This just in: Stephen has acquired a special joke. He’s going to share it with the world. Shortly. Keep watching. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/miSmB3ZYEw
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) March 16, 2017