Late-night hosts on Tuesday discussed reports that Donald Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of former government officials and the latest from the interior and education departments.
Stephen Colbert
“You’ve got to remember that you’re not crazy, no matter what Donald Trump says,” Stephen Colbert began, showing a clip of Trump at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention saying: “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”
“Oh, good,” the host joked. “I was worried because what I’m seeing and reading is that the president is a racist, horny, old burger-goblin who literally steals children from poor people.
“Every day, just like that, Donald Trump gets a little more brazen,” Colbert continued, referencing a New York Times report that the president is considering removing the security clearances of former officials who have criticized him.
Colbert went on: “Up until this moment, former senior officials typically kept their intelligence clearances because having such status allows them to be consulted by their successors on issues of vital national security interest, where their experience and institutional knowledge can offer priceless context.
“But you know what they say?” the host added. “Those who fail to learn from history … are Donald Trump.”
Colbert then showed footage of Senator Rand Paul stating, in reference to the former CIA director John Brennan, “I don’t think we should reveal secrets to people who are calling the commander-in-chief treasonous.
“So the only people who should have security clearance are people who always agree with the president?” asked Colbert. “Well, then, please welcome new CIA director Don and Eric stacked on top of each other in a trench coat.”
Trevor Noah
Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah turned his focus to the administration’s rollback of Obama-era policies protecting the environment and endangered species.
“They’re fighting so many battles,” he said, “sometimes it’s hard to keep track of all their enemies: Crooked Hillary, fake news media, the deep state witch-hunt, Canada and then, of course, their biggest enemy of all, the environment.”
Noah showed news coverage revealing that the secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, attempted to shrink national monuments for logging, ranching and energy development, plans shown in released emails the department later tried to retract.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” Noah said. “The fact that the interior department was scheming about how to handle federal land to help oil and timber businesses, or the fact that they thought they could take back the emails they mistakenly sent out.”
Team Trump turns its back on being green for the sake of raking in the greenbacks. pic.twitter.com/WOZETPZhbC
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 25, 2018
Referencing reports the government would dismiss archaeological discoveries to procure more oil, Noah joked: “Imagine if Trump was president during Jurassic Park.”
Additionally, Noah said, the administration planned to end protections for animals in danger of extinction, guaranteed under the Endangered Species Act.
“What the fuck? This is insane,” Noah said, showing news coverage explaining how Trump’s policies are a boon to large corporate polluters. “You may be wondering: why would anyone want to weaken the Endangered Species Act? Well, it’s the same reason the Trump administration does anything: money.”
Seth Meyers
Meanwhile, NBC’s Seth Meyers discussed changes Betsy DeVos is making to the department of education, specifically its office of civil rights.
“It’s important to know that while the media focuses on Trump’s daily tweets and scandals, outbursts and distractions, the government he installed is hard at work making policy that affects our lives,” he began. “And one of those installations, secretary of education Betsy DeVos, has been quietly overseeing the massive rollback of civil rights regulations in her department.
“Within the department of education, there’s an important office called the office for civil rights,” the host explained. “Now, for people who can’t afford a lawyer, appealing to this office is often the only way they can seek justice if they feel a civil rights violation has occurred.”
Meyers added: “The problem is, it doesn’t seem like Betsy DeVos knows much about it.”
The show cut to DeVos’s appearance in May before a House committee, where, when asked what “vigorous enforcement of civil rights in the context of schools today” would look like, she replied: “Following the law and enforcing the law as stated.”
“Shortly after that exchange,” Meyers said, “three civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, which incidentally is how Betsy Devos spells kneecap, sued the Department of Education over new procedures that allow its office for civil rights to dismiss complaints that it determines to be burdensome.”
Instead, the office is using its resources to look into other claims, like whether programs supporting women at Yale violate a federal law by discriminating against men.
“That’s right, the civil rights office is taking up the cause of white guys trying to get into Yale,” Meyers quipped. “I believe it was Martin Luther King who said, ‘I have a dream, that my bro Chad could be accepted to Yale with a 2.6 GPA and a letter from his dad.’”
