What do we know about Stephen Colbert’s surprise trip to Russia? He was there last week. He appeared on a Russian talk show and “announced” he was considering a run for president in 2020.
And, as you may expect, it gave him even more opportunities to mock President Donald Trump.
Amid allegations that Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, the “Late Show” host took his crew overseas to film in St. Petersburg. Colbert didn’t spill many details Monday night’s show, except to say that the footage will be used in an upcoming week of shows all about his trip, which he called “fascinating.”
Colbert, who arrived back in the United States Sunday night, said the excursion took many months of planning; he and his crew shot 13-hour days and filmed about four or five segments. “The Russian people were lovely,” he said, adding that they visited “the most incredible locations.”
Naturally, Colbert also got in a few digs about Trump and the Russia investigation:
• “You know who did know I was in Russia? Russian intelligence. Hardcore fans, evidently, followed me everywhere. Also got some attention from American intelligence. … It’s important to keep your eye on a comedian while he’s in Russia doing jokes. I could be over there, I could be giving state secrets to the Russians. Oh, wait — someone’s already got that covered.”
• “That’s me in front of St. Petersburg Winter Palace. Or as they call it, ‘Tsar-a-Lago.’ ”
• Colbert showed a clip of his guest appearance on Russian late-night show “Evening Urgant,” where he said, “I’m here to announce that I am considering a run for president in 2020. And I thought it would be better to cut out the middleman and just tell the Russians myself.”
• “Like President Trump, I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any other tapes of what I did in Russia. I did not personally make any such recordings. But I’m pretty sure my crew did.”
