Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah marveled at a shocking development in one of the many investigations into former president Donald Trump: on Monday morning, FBI officials raided his private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. “This raid, just so you know, has nothing to do with January 6, or tax fraud, or giving the White House plumber PTSD,” the Daily Show host explained on Tuesday evening. “Apparently, this investigation is about Trump taking classified documents from the White House.
Honestly it's amazing Trump has time for all this crime pic.twitter.com/rYt8UKhiXL
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) August 10, 2022
“Honestly, I’m amazed that Trump has time for all of this crime,” Noah said. “Like at any moment, Trump’s got a crime that he’s covering up, he’s got a crime that he’s doing now, he’s got a crime that he’s plotting for the future – he’s like the Steve Harvey but of crimes.
“Does he have the same hours of the day as me? He gets so much done.
“Wouldn’t it be weird if this is the thing that takes Trump down?” Noah later added. “We thought it would be something like conspiracy or bribery or blackmail, but no, Trump got busted for taking work home with him? What a nerd.”
For those wondering if the FBI’s search, an unprecedented move against a former president, was a politically explosive moment for the US – “yes, it is,” Noah explained. “You don’t want to let a former president get away with crimes, because nobody in America is above the law – except corporations and rich people and police and celebrities sometimes, but aside from them, nobody is above the law.
“At the same time, even the perception that the justice department is being used to go after your political opponents, that could erode people’s trust in government,” he continued. “So it’s a really tricky situation, and the only thing we can do is wait and see how the investigation unfolds. Or, if you’re Fox News, just freak out right now.”
The conservative network wasted no time decrying the legal raid as, for example, “Gestapo crap” or evidence that, as host Sean Hannity put it, “we have a dual justice system in America.” The far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene simply tweeted “DEFUND THE FBI!”
Noah encouraged viewers to savor, for a moment, “how quickly Maga world turns on law enforcement and America as a whole whenever it suits them, whenever things turned against them”.
Stephen Colbert
“It may be hot outside, but in here, it’s Christmas, because yesterday we all got the present we wanted: FBI agents raided Mar-a-Lago,” said Stephen Colbert on Tuesday’s Late Show.
“That’s the most beautiful sentence America has ever produced,” he continued. “It’s right up there with ‘we put cheese inside the crust.’”
Though it’s confirmed the raid was conducted by the FBI based on a search warrant, it’s still unclear what the warrant included. “Think about that: we’re talking about the former president of the United States of America,” Colbert noted. “The FBI raids his home, and all we can think is, ‘Hm, I wonder which of his crimes they’re investigating’ because he’s done so many.”
We do know that the raid was part of an ongoing investigation initiated by the National Archives and Records Administration. “That’s right, he’s going to be taken down by the librarians!” Colbert laughed. “They’re coming for you, baby. They’re organized, they know where everything is, and you never know from which way they’re coming because they’re so quiet. They are silent but deadly.”
In response to the raid, Trump released an angry official statement: “What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee?”
“Well, first, Watergate was Dick Nixon breaking the law,” Colbert responded. “This was the law breaking in on a dick. Second, Watergate was an illegal burglary by political mercenaries called ‘the plumbers’. This was the FBI with a legal warrant signed by a judge because of evidence of probable cause. You may not like it, but it’s how the government works. The same reason you don’t hear 911 calls that go ‘Help! I’ve been robbed! The IRS has been stealing small amounts regularly from all of my paychecks.’”
Jimmy Fallon
And on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon also reacted to the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid. “You know you’ve done some shady stuff when the FBI shows up and you’re like ‘and which investigation is this regarding?’” he joked.
The raid was a “big deal”, Fallon noted, as it “not only set off a political firestorm but also enraged Trump’s base. Although, to put it into context, the green M&M not being sexy any more also enraged his base.
“I think Trump knows how serious this is because I saw that he’s been searching for criminal defense attorneys in case he’s indicted,” Fallon continued. “It’s tough because all of Trump’s usual attorneys are on trial themselves.
“Trump is now frantically searching for a ‘killer criminal defense attorney’,” Fallon concluded, pointing to reports of his next moves. “It’s not good when you suddenly go from ‘I’m totally innocent’ to ‘I’m going to need a killer lawyer.’”
