Late-Night Hosts Tackle Anonymous NY Times Op-Ed From Trump Official

Late-night hosts expressed incredulity over an anonymous New York Times op-ed that made waves Wednesday, claiming to be written by a top official in the Trump administration.

The piece, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” slammed President Trump for his “amorality” and poor leadership. It also revealed that cabinet members once considered attempting to remove Trump from office using the 25th amendment, but plans were scrapped because “no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis.”

The op-ed bombshell has shaken observers, seemingly confirming that those working inside the White House actively attempt to steer the president away from particular courses of action. Others criticized the author for not revealing his or her identity.

“Mr. President, they traced the resistance, and it’s coming from inside the White House — get out of there!” Stephen Colbert joked during his opening monologue on “The Late Show.”

Colbert also discussed the piece and its implications with Wednesday’s guest, former Secretary of State John Kerry.

“It’s foreboding in so many ways,” said Kerry. “You have somebody stealing something off the president’s desk in order to prevent him making a decision…What it means, Steve, is that we don’t really have a president. We have a president who’s there, but he is not capable of doing the job or living up to the responsibilities.”

Kerry also pointed out that some of the biggest repercussions could be international, as indications that the president is incapable cause other countries to lose faith in the United States’ leadership ability.

Trevor Noah tackled the issue on “The Daily Show.”

“This means, this whole time, we’ve been dealing with the watered-down version of Trump?” Noah queried. “You’re telling me that this is the better version?”

Noah then dug up a 2007 reference: “That’s like finding out ‘2 Girls, 1 Cup’ was the PG version of the clip.”

He also honed in on what many considered the most shocking aspect of the op-ed, the consideration but ultimate lack of action regarding the 25th amendment.

“The 25th amendment is there so you can use it. It’s like there’s a sign that says ‘in case of emergency, break glass,’ but these guys are like, ‘I mean we could break the glass, but then there’d be glass everywhere. Maybe we can just try and steer the fire in a different direction.'”

Noah also hit on a slew of other revelations stemming from the release of Bob Woodward’s book on the Trump presidency, “Fear: Trump in the White House.”

Watch below.

“I’m surprised by how good a writer Ivanka is,” Jimmy Kimmel joked during his opening monologue.

He focused on a theory that Mike Pence wrote the op-ed, based off of its use of the word “lodestar.”

“That’s not a common word, lodestar, not a lot of people use that word. But you know who does? This guy,” he said, as a reel of Mike Pence using the word lodestar in various speeches played.

“Trump just announced that the Space Force’s first mission is to locate and destroy the lodestar, whatever that may be,” Kimmel continued.

“Can you imagine what it must be like to have a job at which almost everyone who works for you thinks you’re an idiot? I can, and I can tell you it’s no fun at all,” he quipped.

Watch below.

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