Anthony Scaramucci Says Bannon Should Go, but Backs Up Trump

The interview started off rocky, when Mr. Scaramucci attempted a joke that was, characteristically, a little on the aggressive side.

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI: I took a list of all your comedy writers for my kill list. They’re all in the back, I wrote them all down.

STEPHEN COLBERT: Uh-huh. So you’re comedically threatening to kill people who work for me?

SCARAMUCCI: I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I’m not allowed to joke anymore, I’ve learned that.

COLBERT: [breaks down laughing]

SCARAMUCCI: This conversation’s off the record.

Mr. Scaramucci showed unbending loyalty to Mr. Trump, despite the fact that the president fired him just 10 days after hiring him. Mr. Colbert pressed Mr. Scaramucci to respond to the major story this week — Mr. Trump’s refusal to immediately and explicitly condemn violent neo-Nazi demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va. — but Mr. Scaramucci himself demurred. He said Mr. Trump often prefers a “counterintuitive” approach when addressing the news media.

SCARAMUCCI: Let’s be fair to him today, though. He did condemn the Nazis today.

COLBERT: Two days later! Does he order his spine on Amazon Prime? Why did it take so long?

Then Mr. Colbert asked Mr. Scaramucci if he thought Mr. Bannon would last in his White House post, which some reports suggest is endangered.

COLBERT: Is he going to be gone in a week?

SCARAMUCCI: That’s up to the president.

COLBERT: What do you think? What does the Mooch think?

SCARAMUCCI: Well, if it was up to me he would be gone, but it’s not up to me.

COLBERT: O.K. You said he’s trying to suck his own [expletive].

There Mr. Colbert was quoting from an infamous interview with The New Yorker, in which Mr. Scaramucci singled out Mr. Bannon for some particularly crude admonishment. Mr. Colbert turned the accusation around on him. Ever smooth, the Mooch was unfazed.

COLBERT: Here’s the deal. Are you telling us that you never even tried? As an adult male, it does not pass the smell test.

SCARAMUCCI: Hold on a second. Eddie Murphy said if he could do that he would never leave the house. No, I’m not capable of doing that.

Fallon Calls Trump’s Delay ‘Shameful’

Jimmy Fallon led “The Tonight Show” not with his typical monologue, but with a two-minute opening speech decrying Mr. Trump’s response to the protests in Charlottesville, which killed one protester and resulted in the deaths of two state troopers.

“The fact that it took the president two days to come out and clearly denounce racist and white supremacists is shameful. And I think he finally spoke out because people everywhere stood up and said something. It’s important for everyone, especially white people in this country, to speak out against this.” — JIMMY FALLON

Seth Meyers Says Trump Is Not Acting Like a President

Mr. Meyers also forwent an opening monologue in favor of an address. He cataloged a history of what he called “racist and insane” behavior throughout Mr. Trump’s political career.

“Some ignored it or played it down when Donald Trump claimed our first black president wasn’t born in this country. It was racist, and insane, but he was written off as a clown — a bitter little man who didn’t know an American could have a name like Barack Obama. Then he called Mexicans rapists during the speech announcing his candidacy. He called Elizabeth Warren ‘Pocahontas.’ And then he brought Steve Bannon to the White House with him, worked to take away voting rights from black people, and hammered away at the idea that Chicago was a wasteland because of the violent black people living there. And now white supremacists and American Nazis are visible and energetic and demonstrative in a way we have not seen in our lifetime.” — SETH MEYERS

“The leader of our country is called the president because he’s supposed to preside over our society. His job is to lead, to cajole, to scold, to correct our path, to lift up what is good about us and to absolutely and unequivocally and immediately condemn what is evil in us. And if he does not do that, if he does not preside over our society, then he’s not a president.” — SETH MEYERS

Colbert Lists All the Things Trump Is Quick to Condemn

Mr. Colbert pointed out that Mr. Trump usually has little difficulty expressing his displeasure with someone.

“The president came out after a tragedy, and after he made his statement, reasonable people could not tell if he was condemning Nazis. And it’s not like Trump is a shrinking violet. He’s known for criticizing things. If only the president was as mad about neo-Nazis murdering people in the streets as he’s been about: Hillary Clinton, The New York Times, CNN, Joe Scarborough, Kristen Stewart, the cast of ‘Hamilton,’ Diet Coke, Nordstrom not selling his daughter’s clothes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan, me, the state of New Hampshire, Gold Star families, Penn Jillette’s Las Vegas show, the movie ‘Django Unchained,’ Meryl Streep … and lady ‘Ghostbusters.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT

The Punchiest Punchlines (Tiki Edition)

“On Friday, the white supremacists held a torch-wielding march, only they were holding tiki torches. How lame! That’s like villagers coming after Frankenstein holding scented candles.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“If there’s any silver lining to this — and there isn’t, by the way — it’s that whatever vacation he was hoping to have is now ruined. It’s been a terrible vacation.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

The Bits Worth Watching

James Corden is a brave man to think he can beat Samuel L. Jackson in a diss battle.

Mr. Trump’s words, used against him.

What We’re Excited About on Tuesday Night

Two of the funniest people on the planet — both masters of warranted outrage, in their own way — will be on “The Tonight Show” tomorrow: Leslie Jones and Keegan-Michael Key.

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Moral of the story here: Don’t sue someone for making stuff up when they didn’t make stuff up. Taylor Swift has won her lawsuit against a man who said she had falsely claimed that he groped her.

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