Stephen Colbert calls GOP cowards for not watching Capitol footage

Stephen Colbert watched in horror as a mob assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6. Some Republicans couldn’t bring themselves to do the same, looking away as footage from the riot was shown during former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. For Colbert, it was the latest demonstration of cowardice for the Republican Party.

The Late Show fans will recall that Colbert went live on Jan. 6 in a surprise move. He tossed out the night’s planned monologue and delivered an emotional speech about what we witnessed that day.

Since then, images and videos from the riot have been shown time and time again on television. It has helped Colbert lay out the case against former President Trump for inciting the insurrection. On Tuesday, that job was taken up by the Senate as the former president’s second impeachment trial began.

But when Democrats began to show footage of the Capitol riot, several prominent Republicans were seen looking away rather than confront the disturbing images. Stephen Colbert’s monologue last night called them out by name:

Stephen Colbert calls out Republican Senators by name

Stephen Colbert decides not to show any of the 14-minute-long impeachment riot video during his monologue. The Late Show host says it would be too disturbing and uncomfortable for his audience.

Apparently, it was also too disturbing for Republicans like Senators Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul. Colbert doesn’t hesitate to call these men cowards for refusing to watch footage of the mob attacking the Capitol. He jokingly reminds the Senators that “see no evil, hear no evil, makes you seem really evil.”

Colbert had the same level of contempt for all 44 Republicans who voted that the impeachment trial was unconstitutional. The late night comedian doesn’t buy any of the legal arguments and instead argues that Republicans just don’t want to have this trial.

Just like he said in his impeachment trial preview, Colbert makes it clear that there is no defending former President Donald Trump. Colbert’s monologue features arguments from Senate Democrats that establish a precedent for impeaching a former official while also reminding everyone that the Capitol riot could have been much worse.

The video shown during the trial was supposed to do the reminding but several Republicans tried to ignore it. Stephen Colbert decided to take it upon himself to make sure no one forgets their names.

What did you think of Stephen Colbert’s monologue? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.