Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Stephen Colbert brutally roasts Rachel Maddow's 'revelation' about Donald Trump tax form

Maddow delayed telling viewers about details of the President's tax form for up to half an hour

Jacob Stolworthy
Thursday 16 March 2017 10:37 GMT
Comments
Stephen Colbert tears into Rachel Maddow's Trump tax return revelation

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

US late night host Stephen Colbert has poked fun at the MSNBC broadcast which saw Rachel Maddow delay telling viewers about Donald Trump's tax returns having announced it to over six million Twitter followers moments before.

Viewers grew infuriated as they watched the journalist eke out the announcement for up to half an hour opting instead to use the spotlight to discuss the US President's links to Russia.

Colbert performed a sketch on The Late Show which saw him reveal he had made a game-changing discovery: a joke.

“I hold in my hand something very significant,” he began. “It is a joke. A joke we can be confirmed has been heard by Donald Trump. We believe this is the first time any joke connected with Donald Trump has been released. This is an old joke from before he was President.”

The joke was: “Why did the chicken cross the road?”

He continued, waving the unseen documents about: “This, this piece of paper, the part facing me wth the words you can't see, this is the document with the joke.”

In recent months, Maddow's has become the most-watched cable news show among anti-Trump viewers.

It was only after criticising the Russian links to the new administration that Maddow eventually revealed the two-page document from 2005; it showed that the business tycoon had paid millions towards the Alternative Minimum Tax - a special rate applied for high earners who routinely take advantage of tax deductions.

In case you're wondering, Colbert eventually revealed the joke's answer towards the end of the show. What was it? Check back later to find out.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in