Stephen Colbert returned to Monday’s “Late Show” after a surprise trip to Russia with a lacerating apology for President Donald Trump, whom he’s been ridiculing relentlessly on his CBS program.
A day after Colbert’s return from St. Petersburg, where the comedian filmed footage for upcoming sketches, Trump took to Twitter to accuse former President Barack Obama of failing to act despite knowing about Russia meddling in the U.S. election.
“The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “With 4 months looking at Russia…under a magnifying glass, they have zero ‘tapes’ of T people colluding. There is no collusion & no obstruction. I should be given an apology!”
Colbert took it upon himself to give the president what he asked for.
“I think I speak for the majority of Americans when I say, ‘I’m sorry you’re president,” he said. Pointing to his heart, Colbert added, “It comes from here.”
While in Russia, Colbert appeared on a talk show to “announce” his run for president in 2020. “I thought it would be better to cut out the middleman and just tell the Russians myself,” he said in a clip he showed from his interview on “Evening Urgant.”
“For those of you not familiar with late-night TV in Russia, it might seem a little foreign. Let me explain it to you: A white male host does some monologue jokes, then sits behind a desk to interview celebrities,” Colbert quipped. “It works over there somehow, I’m not sure.”
During Monday’s opening monologue, Colbert also shared that the excursion took months of planning, and that he and his crew shot 13-hour days and completed about four or five segments that will likely air this week.
Watch the segment above.