Late Night Hosts React to Violence In U.S. Capitol, Slam Trump and His Enablers

The late night shows struck a more somber tone on Wednesday evening, following a day of violence and rioting at Capitol Hill.

Across the board, all the hosts took a hard line stance against Donald Trump and his MAGA army, who stormed the Capitol earlier in the day in protest of the election results and in support of the president.

They also called out Trump's enablers by name, while calling for them all to be removed from office.

On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the host kicked off his monologue by saying we had all tuned in for "the treason finale of the Donald Trump era" that day. "This is not the sort of thing I could imagine happening in my lifetime," he added.

Comparing the mob to a "psychotic 'Price Is Right' audience," Kimmel called Wednesday a "terrible day in the history of this country."

"Our President and the scumbags who have kept this 'stolen election' charade going — and that's you, Josh Hawley, that's you, Ted Cruz — either intentionally or just wildly irresponsibly lit these fires to start a war just to distract us from the fact that Donald Trump lost the election," he added.

He continued to pile on Hawley and Cruz, as well as Kevin McCarthy, Rudy Giuliani, Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes and, of course, Trump himself. "He doesn't care about you, he doesn't care about your life or your wife ... he cares about himself and only about himself," he added He'd roll his limo right over you to get a Chik-Fil-A sandwich."

Regina King joined him later in the show for an interview, where she also expressed shock at how the day's events unfolded. "I tuned into people with pitchforks being escorted down the Capitol steps very calmly by police officers after they'd broken windows," she said, adding that it only proved we live in "the divided states of America."

"They were actually gently escorted down steps. No tear gas ... it was... wow, quite the vision."

"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" began with the host admitting "these are difficult times to do an entertainment show."

"Being here tonight and talking to you at home and reassuring you we're going to be okay and this is not what this country is about is how I can help," he continued. "This is what happens when there is no peaceful transition of power and what happens when there's bad leadership. This is not how you lose."

Saying his late, veteran grandfather would be "disgusted" by mob scene in DC, Fallon added, "Today was not patriotism, today was terrorism." He then ended his monologue with a message of hope, saying, "Today was a disgrace, today was disappointing, but sadly, today was not a surprise. It's important to remember this is not who we are, I assure you there are more good people than bad and good will prevail."

Stephen Colbert went "unexpectedly live" for his show, beginning the hour by calling out Trump's enablers.

"Hey, Republicans who supported this president -- especially the ones in the joint session of Congress today -- have you had enough?" he asked. "After five years of coddling this president's fascist rhetoric, guess whose followers want to burn down the Reichstag?""

"Who could have seen this coming? Everyone? Even dummies like me. This is the most shocking, most tragic, least surprising thing I've ever seen," he added. "For years now, people have been telling you cowards that if you let the president lie about our democracy over and over and then join him in that lie and say he's right when you know for a fact that he is not, there will be a terrible price to pay. But you just never thought you'd have to pay it, too."

Colbert also singled out Hawley, after he was seen "raising your stupid fist to the mob outside the Capitol," egging them on. "Look at that, it's like 'Black Power' but the opposite," he added. "There really should be a name for that. And, obviously, he has to keep his fist closed, because if he opened it, you'd see all the blood on his hands."

Seth Meyers began his show by saying, "I swear we were writing jokes today, and then ..."

"As everyone knows by now, today was a day filled with surreal and horrifying scenes as armed insurrection and attempts to destroy through violent means, American democracy," he continued. "What we saw today was a violent insurgency ... and it was incited, directed and encouraged by the President Donald Trump and more than a few members of the Republican party and right wing media."

He ended his monologue by saying "multi-racial, pluralistic democracy is fragile and precious, and it requires our vigilant stewardship and protection."

"Anyone not willing to forward that project, with the fullness of their effort, must be shamed and disgraced and removed from office," he concluded. "And that must start immediately with Donald Trump."

James Corden also took a more hopeful approach, despite "a day that will go down as a dark one in the long history of America.."

After slamming Trump's video saying he loved his supporters and calling them "special," Corden added, "I wouldn’t even want to imagine his treatment or response to those people if they had been wearing Black Lives Matter hats instead of red MAGA ones."

"It felt hopeless and I got to thinking, I hope when the dust settles and reflect on what's happened on this awful day, that we still have hope," he continued. "I think if there's one thing we can have after the last month in this country, it's hope."