Colbert on Trump and Epstein: ‘They were best pals and underage girls was Epstein’s whole thing’
Late-night hosts covered this week’s latest bombshell Epstein and Trump revelations and spoke about the president’s latest interview with Laura Ingraham.On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about the government shutdown likely coming to an end after “an historic impasse” (the shutdown later did end) and Democrat Adelita Grijalva being sworn in as a member of Congress, seven weeks after she won a special House election in Arizona.Colbert said she has been “reborn from the ashes” and will be the 218th and final signature needed to force a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.He joked that on her first day she was shown around and told “down there is the room where you’re going to topple the pervert cabal”.This week saw some new emails from Epstein released which suggest Trump knew of his conduct.
“What a shocking, shocking revelation,” Colbert deadpanned.He joked that it was “like that moment in The Sixth Sense when Bruce Willis appears on screen and you’re like I get it, he’s the guy on the poster”.Colbert said it was inevitable that Trump was aware, adding: “They were best pals and underage girls was Epstein’s whole thing.”It was “not the only damning email”, with one sent around Trump’s 2015 run showing Epstein suggest possible ways to answer questions about their friendship.Colbert said it’s “never a good sign when Jeffrey Epstein is trying to help you draft a response”, comparing him to a “perverted Clippy”.
He joked that when “reached for comment, Donald Trump bulldozed the West Wing”.Republicans claim Democrats are cherrypicking the emails, so they released 20,000 additional documents but that “doesn’t prove anything”.He went on to talk about another odd item this week.“I don’t know if we’ll ever forget the insanity of the Trump presidency, and Trump wants to make sure that we can’t possibly,” he said.This week saw the reveal of a one-dollar coin depicting Trump to celebrate the 250th birthday of the US.
“Pick someone who was there when it was founded, like Joe Biden,” Colbert joked.He also spoke about Trump’s “big stupid ballroom” and how he has been doing “extreme home makeovers all over the White House”.On Late Night, Seth Meyers also spoke about how Trump is “turning the White House into a pharaoh’s tomb” with the “kind of decor you see in a restaurant where they have a fish tank in the waiting area”.He joked that it’s “probably the next thing Trump’s gonna add to the Oval Office”.In an awkward new interview with Fox News pundit Laura Ingraham, “Trump is talking out of his ass” when stumbling over the specifics of the renovation, Meyers said.
“This is what Trump was focused on while his government was shut down,” Meyers said,The president was “wandering around the White House like a property only child”, the host joked in reference to the Property Brothers TV show,He then moved on to Epstein and spoke about the emails, which reporters say have raised new questions about their friendship,“They raise new questions?” he said,“To me it sounds like they answer old questions.
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Trump’s targeting of alleged drug vessels strains UK-US intelligence ties
It is an intelligence relationship that predates even the Five Eyes: the UKUSA alliance that began, naturally enough, in secret in 1946. But this week the strain of trying to be the closest security ally to a freewheeling White House has begun to show.Britain, it emerged, had quietly suspended intelligence cooperation with the US in the Caribbean because London does not consider the deadly US military campaign against ships accused of drug trafficking to be in line with international law.That amounts to an extraordinary open fissure in a close working relationship at a time when the US is increasing its military buildup, expanding its controversial campaign in the region with an attempt to threaten Venezuela.“I’m not sure if there is a previous example of this happening in the public domain
Britons living abroad: tell us your views on UK politics today
The last decade in British politics has been marked by instability and fragmentation, with six prime ministers in ten years, and Nigel Farage’s Reform party now leading in the polls.A study this month from King’s College London and Ipsos found that 84 percent of people now say the UK feels divided, up from 74 percent in 2020.Polling on voter intention shows a fracturing of the political landscape as people abandon two-party politics – with Reform now averaging 31 percent, Labour 18 percent, the Conservatives 16 percent, Green Party 14 percent and Liberal Democrats 12 percent.We want to hear from Brits living abroad. How do you think UK politics has changed since you left the country? Does anything surprise you about events in the UK? How does living abroad shape your views on UK politics? Do you have concerns?You can tell us about viewing UK politics from abroad herePlease include as much detail as possible
Your Party receives ‘small portion’ of withheld supporters’ donations
The leftwing Your Party, set up by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, is embroiled in another public row over donations to the party.A statement from Corbyn along with Shockat Adam MP, Adnan Hussain MP, Ayoub Khan MP and Iqbal Mohamed MP states that hundreds of thousands of pounds were donated to the party “by supporters in good faith, but have since remained beyond its reach”, which they describe as being “extremely frustrating and disheartening”.It added a “small portion” of the funds was transferred to the party on Thursday which they said was “insufficient” and they will continue to pursue the immediate transfer of all the money donated.The statement posted on X by the independent alliance of MPs was not signed by Sultana and comes days after the Guardian reported on the former Labour MP and Corbyn’s quarrel over hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations.Sultana offered to transfer £600,000 from a company the party’s founders set up earlier this year, only to be rebuffed by allies of the former Labour leader who accused her of playing “political games” with supporters’ money
Starmer stands by McSweeney and says he has been ‘assured no briefings against ministers done from No 10’ – as it happened
Keir Starmer has said he “of course” retains full confidence in his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, PA Media reports.I will post the full quote shortly.At PMQs yesterday Starmer dodged a question about whether he had full confidence in McSweeney, although No 10 subsequently said he did.Some ministers and MPs want to see McSweeney sacked.We’re closing this blog now, here’s a summary of the day’s main developments:The prime minister has attempted to draw a line under the briefing row, saying he has “been assured that no briefing against ministers was done from No 10” and that he has “full confidence” in his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeneyWes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that he doesn’t know and doesn’t care whether Starmer is trying to identify the No 10 figure briefing against him
Starmer defies calls to sack chief of staff, claiming briefing didn’t come from No 10
Keir Starmer has attempted to draw a line under extraordinary briefings by his allies that No 10 feared Wes Streeting could launch a leadership coup, insisting he had been reassured it “didn’t come from Downing Street”.The prime minister gathered his senior staff to stress that briefings against cabinet ministers were “unacceptable” after apologising to Streeting for what had happened on Wednesday.However, his spokesperson said Starmer also accepted assurances that No 10 staff had not briefed against Streeting and that he stood by his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.Since the furore over No 10’s fears about a leadership challenge from Streeting, first revealed by the Guardian on Tuesday, there had been calls from Labour MPs for McSweeney’s resignation.One senior Labour source described McSweeney as “the great survivor” after the Downing Street gathering
Labour must accept that the two-party age is over and embrace PR | Letters
Andy Beckett suggests the case for proportional representation may become irresistible (Britain’s two-party politics is fragmenting: what unintended consequences await?, 6 November). The strength of the case is not in doubt; the issue is lack of political will to legislate. Perhaps there is more will now than ever, with results from the 2024 general election and wide-ranging Electoral Calculus forecasts pushing parties currently against proportional representation to reconsider.Labour’s position is clearly crucial. Based on the forecasts, PR offers Labour a hedge against a doomsday scenario of losing up to 90% of its seats
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