On Monday afternoon, during what was an otherwise relatively slow post-Oscars hangover news cycle, former advisor to Donald Trump Sam Nunberg came crashing onto the cable news scene like the Kool-Aid Man spiked with Everclear. In the space of just a few hours, Nunberg lit up on MSNBC, CNN, even the Washington Post, and then back to CNN. And coincidentally, all of this happened just minutes before Stephen Colbert was about to tape Monday night’s Late Show — and he could hardly contain himself.
“Right before we taped this show, the entire news cycle jumped on the bus to crazy town,” Colbert quipped. “At the wheel, former Trump campaign aide and guy telling the stripper how much he loves his kids, Sam Nunberg.”
From there, Colbert gave a play-by-play rundown of Nunberg’s breakdown, explaining how the whole thing started when special counsel Robert Mueller issued a subpoena to him to testify about the Russia investigation, and “not only did Nunberg say he won’t show up, he said he was planning to go on Bloomberg TV and tear up the subpoena.”
No, no, no, no, no, smart thinking, Colbert continued. “Do it on Bloomberg, no witnesses. It’s the perfect crime!”
By the time the show taped yesterday, Nunberg’s shenanigans had gotten as far as his interview with Jake Tapper on CNN, who told him, “Sometimes life and special prosecutors are not fair, I guess. I would cooperate if it were me, but I’m a different breed of cat.”
In fact, as Colbert pointed out, all of our feelings about Nunberg’s appearances yesterday afternoon could be summed up by Tapper’s face:
“Are you happy, Nunberg? You broke Jake Tapper,” Colbert joked, closing out his monologue. “I keep telling Jake, if you keep reporting on the Trump campaign, your face is gonna stick that way.”