Bob Woodward And Robert Costa Push 'Peril' On Stephen Colbert

By Andrew Sanford | TV | September 22, 2021 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | September 22, 2021 |

There was a time when former President Donald Trump had control over certain members of the Republican party. That time is now. “The Big Lie is not some passing storm. It’s the climate in the Republican party,” says Robert Costa. Costa is the co-writer of the book Peril with legendary reporter Bob Woodward. They were both on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night, and it was bleak.

For those who are unfamiliar, Woodward has broken several high-profile stories over his extensive career. The most notable was the Watergate scandal of 1972. Woodward’s book, All The President’s Men, which he wrote with Carl Bernstein, was an explosive account of a corrupt president’s shocking attempt to retain power. Sound familiar? Woodward has already written books on the Trump Presidency titled Rage and Fear. Now, with Peril, the horrible trilogy is complete. That does not mean we’ve seen the last of Trump.

As Woodward and Costa explain to Colbert, Trump still has a stranglehold over the Republican Party. There are members of Congress and the Senate, sources that the reporters will not name, who feel powerless. They feel as though they lack the political clout to stand against him. Even while, according to the reporters, Mitch McConnel makes fun of Trump in the senate chambers. The accusations all fill me with this sense of absolute powerlessness. It sucks.

As Colbert points out at the beginning of the interview, most of this isn’t anything new. That is, in part, thanks to Woodward’s past reporting. Also, you know, just paying attention to Trump and his cronies. It is terrifying nevertheless. The Emperor has been revealed to have no clothes so often and so thoroughly, you’d think more people would wake the hell up. At least at the higher levels of government.

They already know they’re a disagreement away from turning into Republican Pariahs. Yet they fall in line, cowering at the feet of a madman. Privately they lament, but publically they foment and rabble rouse. It’s cowardly. Unfortunately, that’s to be expected at this point, and things likely won’t change anytime soon.