Stephen Colbert praises Rep. Adam Schiff’s courage in impeachment trial

Stephen Colbert explained why he thinks history will look back favorably at Representative Adam Schiff.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert covered day two of the Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday night, albeit in a slightly different fashion. Whereas the day before was all about establishing who Stephen Colbert considered the villains, night two celebrated who Colbert saw as the heroes. And chief among those is Representative Adam Schiff.

Day one of the impeachment trial wasn’t technically a trial at all but a day of debate over the rules and restrictions. The Late Show recapped the day by calling out Republicans like Senator Mitch McConnell who appear dead set on keeping things tilted in President Donald Trump’s favor.

Wednesday was spent making opening statements as House managers led by Representative Adam Schiff laid out their case against President Trump. Rep. Schiff has been front and center during the Ukraine scandal as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. That also means he has become a frequent target of President Trump in interviews and on Twitter.

But Stephen Colbert has a much, much different opinion of Rep. Schiff. Colbert opened Wednesday night’s monologue with a sincere tribute to Rep. Schiff and the other Democrats bringing the impeachment case against President Trump.

It may have been used as a setup to his joke about Twitter’s trending topic, but Colbert’s opening statement on Rep. Schiff still sounded sincere. Throughout The Late Show‘s coverage of the Trump White House, Colbert has sprinkled in these moments of honesty and put jokes aside to comment on the state of affairs. It is partly due to Colbert staying true to himself and his values. It is also partly due to Colbert realizing the role of The Late Show and himself in how millions of people consume the news.

 Colbert showcases how Rep. Schiff’s statement “played the hits” and referenced all the buzz words and phrases that were revealed about the Ukraine scandal. All of those points, like who was in the loop and “the three amigos,” went on to become the basis of Late Show monologues.

The Late Show host went on to say that he couldn’t help but feel moved by the historical significance of the day’s events. But he did warn Rep. Schiff to read lightly when it came to using interview excerpts, audio clips, and video to mock President Trump. Between Colbert, Seth Meyers, and the rest of late night, there is already plenty of that going around.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear who Stephen Colbert considers the heroes and villains of the impeachment trial. Still, his words about Rep. Adam Schiff stood out among his normal monologues of punchlines and one-liners. Keep watching to find out who from day thee of the trial will catch Colbert’s attention next.