Stephen Colbert’s take on the Ford/Kavanaugh hearings: ‘I was just watching, and I needed a venti Xanax’

Although the Senate Judiciary hearings for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford concluded while he was filming, Stephen Colbert had a lot of material to work with.

There are times when a monologue needs to take a commercial break. Last night’s episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was one of those times. Even as the Senate Judiciary hearing for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh was concluding, Colbert tried his best to find some levity in mocking the absurdity of some of the questions and some of the people involved.

Naturally, the clips have already been posted to YouTube, preserving the original split by providing two videos.

Before we dive in, though, a note: Although Colbert doesn’t discuss the details of the alleged sexual assault, he does make mention of it, and more content about the topic may be difficult for some viewers.

The tweet he cites comes from Gabriel Sherman, who, by his Twitter profile, contributes to both NBC News and MSNBC as well as Vanity Fair. Sherman later commented on what his sources were telling him about reactions to the Kavanaugh portion of the hearing.

Perhaps the most striking line from this portion comes from Colbert pretending to read a resume and mentioning the three named allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh: Ford’s, Deborah Ramirez’s, and Julie Swetnick’s. “I’m sorry, but you’re just not Arby’s material. Try the Supreme Court,” Colbert says.

In the second part, Colbert almost makes it to the end without letting some real anger show, but when he does, he directly ties Kavanaugh back to the man who nominated him in the first place. It shows through a bit earlier, but by the time he gets to Kavanaugh’s “reap the whirlwhind” quote, he’s done and can’t even muster a smile to talk about his next guest, Jeff Bridges.

Maybe watch part of that interview to unwind.

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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights on CBS.