Rather than subject herself to an actual news interview, on Thursday, shortly after the vote in Congress to formally endorse an impeachment inquiry against President Trump, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went directly to liberal Late Show host Stephen Colbert to celebrate the radically partisan move. She was predictably treated to a hero’s welcome and even thanked Colbert for his supposed “patriotism.”
The CBS late night host offered this gushing introduction for Pelosi: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to say that my first guest is a congresswoman from California and the first woman elected Speaker of the House. Her latest project is impeaching the President of the United States. Please welcome Speaker Nancy Pelosi!”
After Pelosi walked out to raucous cheers and applause from the liberal audience, Colbert began their friendly chat by remarking: “Madam Speaker, thank you for being here today. I know you’ve had a busy one. This is truly an historic day. Thank you for making time to be on our silly show.”
The Democratic leader eagerly returned the gratitude by showering the comedian with similar adulation: “Well, It is a busy day. But I wanted to thank you for your patriotism...” As the crowd cheered again, Colbert replied: “Oh, thank you very much. Thank you.”
Despite the very unserious venue, Pelosi claimed: “This is a sad thing for our country. We do this prayerfully with great seriousness. Nobody goes to Congress to impeach a president.” Colbert excitedly wondered: “So the House voted today. Are we done? Is the President impeached?” Pelosi quipped: “No. No, but thank you for asking.”
Moments later, the Colbert explained:
And you have said before that this is a sad occasion, in a way, because you don’t want to have to take these – these steps. The reason why people do get happy, why you hear the applause sometimes, is because people want to know that actions have consequences. And there have been so few consequences for this president, when he’s admitting on the White House lawn the crimes that he has been willing to do in order to help himself.
Pelosi chimed in: “Well, I think what’s most important, the most important thing for the American people to realize and understand is no one is above the law.”
Colbert went on to compare the President’s alleged impeachable offenses to the scene of a brutal murder: “It seems like it’s an investigation truly in reverse, in that we found the guy with the bloody knife in his hand and the dead body, now the investigation is defined if enough people care.”
After admitting that he was initially opposed to impeaching Trump because “it lets the American people off too easy,” Colbert argued: “...but when it became tampering with our election using a foreign policy, which is very on brand for him, it undermines the idea that you have to wait for the election if he’s willing to undermine the election using a foreign power.”
Pelosi responded: “Well, as I say, there are many – and you have amused us all, as I say, with your patriotic approach to calling it – making people aware....I thank you for your patriotism, because it is a civics lesson, people have to know you can’t do this.”
She also laughably asserted that impeachment “had nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with partisanship” and was “only about patriotism.”
In his final question, after talking to Pelosi for nearly half of the Thursday night show, part of which was aired early Friday morning, Colbert imagined the House Speaker being some kind of Dirty Harry figure:
Now, every Republican has rolled the bones that you don’t have enough to impeach the President....They all voted against it, they’ve all said she’s got nothing, they don’t have what it takes to impeach the President. Are you looking at Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the Republicans and saying, “Do you feel lucky, punk?”
He further asked: “Can you street fight?”
“So if you want to go into the arena, you have to be prepared to take a punch. But you also have to be prepared to throw a punch for the children, for the children,” Pelosi proclaimed. Colbert laughed and repeated her bizarre line: “Throw a punch for the children.”
Wrapping up the fawning exchange, he declared: “Madam Speaker, thank you so much for being here on this momentous day. Good luck to the Constitution.”
Unfortunately, even if Pelosi actually sat down with a network journalist, it’s hard to imagine she would have gotten much tougher treatment.
Help fight against the liberal media’s impeachment crusade
Here are excerpts of lengthy October 31 interview, aired early on the morning of November 1:
12:01 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to say that my first guest is a congresswoman from California and the first woman elected Speaker of the House. Her latest project is impeaching the President of the United States. Please welcome Speaker Nancy Pelosi! [Cheers and applause]
Madam Speaker, thank you for being here today. I know you’ve had a busy one. [Laughter] This is truly an historic day. Thank you for making time to be on our silly show. [Cheers and applause]
NANCY PELOSI: Well, It is a busy day.
COLBERT: It is, yeah.
PELOSI: But I wanted to thank you for your patriotism, I really am because – [Cheers and applause]
COLBERT: Oh, thank you very much. Thank you.
PELOSI: This is a sad thing for our country. We do this prayerfully with great seriousness. Nobody goes to Congress to impeach a president. And you’ve had your fun with the policy and the personality and the rest.
COLBERT: Sure.
PELOSI: And that’s about the election. The patriotism, the Constitution is really what impeachment is about. So I welcome the opportunity to take us to, again, where you have been, but in, shall we say, a little different vein.
COLBERT: Yes, a slightly different vein, slightly different vein. [Applause] So the House voted today. Are we done? Is the President impeached?
PELOSI: No. No, but thank you for asking.
(...)
COLBERT: And you have said before that this is a sad occasion, in a way, because you don’t want to have to take these – these steps. The reason why people do get happy, why you hear the applause sometimes, is because people want to know that actions have consequences. [Cheers and applause] And there have been so few consequences for this president, when he’s admitting on the White House lawn the crimes that he has been willing to do in order to help himself.
PELOSI: Well, I think what’s most important, the most important thing for the American people to realize and understand is no one is above the law. [Cheers and applause]
(...)
12:07 AM ET
COLBERT: It seems like it’s an investigation truly in reverse, in that we found the guy with the bloody knife in his hand and the dead body, now the investigation is defined if enough people care.
PELOSI: Well, and that’s part of the – that’s part of this. In the – when I went out to formalize the inquiry, the inquiry has been going on for a very long time, but a week after that September 17th, was the morning the President called about how perfect the phone call was, and my view was that it was perfectly wrong. [Laughter, cheers and applause] But here’s the thing to remember, they make a big thing of saying, “Well, if it was so wrong, why would the President put out the notes from the meeting?” It was a whistleblower. We would have never known about this absent the whistleblower coming forward, and then they put some of the notes forward of some of what was on the call. So – but the fact is that, before that announcement, the public was against moving forward, 59 to 34.
COLBERT: I actually was against it.
PELOSI: Yeah.
COLBERT: I said many times on the show I don’t think that impeachment is the right thing, I think it lets the American people off too easy, I think the President himself has to be rejected by the voters or else his followers will feel like it was stolen from them, but when it became tampering with our election using a foreign policy, which is very on brand for him [Laughter] it undermines the idea that you have to wait for the election if he’s willing to undermine the election using a foreign power.
PELOSI: Well, as I say, there are many – and you have amused us all, as I say, with your patriotic approach to calling it – making people aware. I mean, because in the midst of all of this, while you take it from your point of view, and I have to have a serious approach to it, doesn’t mean I’m not amused by some of what you do. [Laughter and applause]
COLBERT: Yes, yes, thank you. Thank you.
PELOSI: What happened on that September 17th, and the week later, the telephone call, and then our announcement later that day, the – was that the – it was – it had clarity. So many of the things, obstruction of justice, abuse of power –
COLBERT: Other people were doing this for him, did he ask them or not?
PELOSI: All that. This had clarity and the polls immediately changed on it.
Now, this for me has nothing to do with politics. People said, “Well, you didn’t want to do it because you would jeopardize some of your members.” It had nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with partisanship, it’s only about patriotism. And that’s why I thank you for your patriotism, because it is a civics lesson, people have to know you can’t do this.
(...)
12:32 AM ET
COLBERT: Last question, Madam Speaker. Now, every Republican has rolled the bones that you don’t have enough to impeach the President.
PELOSI: No, no. [Laughter]
COLBERT: They all voted against it, they’ve all said she’s got nothing, they don’t have what it takes to impeach the President. Are you looking at Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the Republicans and saying, “Do you feel lucky, punk?” [Laughter]
PELOSI: Here’s the thing about this, again, it’s about the Constitution. It’s about the Constitution. We take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
(...)
COLBERT: If you’ve got the goods on President Trump, or if the Constitution has the goods on President Trump [Laughter], to put it in your vernacular, it’s already a rough political landscape, are you prepared for how rough it’s gonna get? Because you know the guy’s not gonna go easy. Can you street fight? [Laughter]
(...)
PELOSI: So if you want to go into the arena, you have to be prepared to take a punch. But you also have to be prepared to throw a punch for the children, for the children. [Cheers and applause]
COLBERT: Throw a punch for the children.
PELOSI: For the children!
COLBERT: Madam Speaker, thank you so much for being here on this momentous day. Good luck to the Constitution.
PELOSI: There we are.
COLBERT: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, everybody!
