Though news broke fairly late in the day with President Trump’s latest thoughts on the Charlottesville protest, late-night comedy shows scrambled to quickly respond to Tuesday’s news conference. On Late Night, Seth Meyers opened his show with a “Breaking Crazy†segment. After rolling a clip of Trump seeming to equate Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson to George Washington and lobbing blame at the “alt-left†for the violence over the weekend, Meyers zeroed in on White House chief of staff General John Kelly hanging his head during the event. “Look at that guy,†Meyers said. “Trump is so fully out of his mind he broke a general. That guy’s been in wars.â€
Meanwhile, on the Late Show, Stephen Colbert focused on another key player in the Trump administration, chief strategist Steve Bannon, who Trump assured reporters is “not a racist.†Colbert quipped, “If the third thing someone says about you, unprompted, is ‘he’s not a racist,’ you’ve got a problem.†In regards to Trump’s latest statements regarding “both sides†being at fault for the violence: “No doubt about it,†Colbert offered. “The only thing I’m doubting right now is whether you’re still going to be president by Friday.â€