Comedian Seth Meyers blasted Vice President Mike Pence Wednesday night, calling him "just as slippery of a liar" as President Donald Trump.
Pence, he said, "doesn't get as much credit" for lying as the president, because of his serious, more formal way of speaking.
Read more: Pence falsely claims that intelligence community found Russia had no effect on 2016 election
Meyers said Pence "crinkles his brow and he uses a solemn tone," when lying, citing footage from January 2017 in Pence denied the Trump campaign had any contact with Russians.
"I joined this campaign in the summer, and I can tell you that all the contact by the Trump campaign and associates was with the American people," Pence said on Fox News.
On CBS's Face the Nation, Pence continued in the same vein: "I think to suggest [anyone in the Trump campaign had contact with Russians attempting to meddle in the elece] is to give credence to some of—of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy," he said.
"'Bizarre rumors around the candidacy?'" Meyers commented, "Bizarre rumors were the candidacy."
Turning to Trump, the comedian said that while Pence kept a serious tone, the president lied more like a teenager gossiping in the school corridor. "Did you hear Barack was born in Kenya? And Ted Cruz's dad killed JFK. Pass it on," he said while impersonating Trump.
Comparing the Fox News clip of Pence footage of Trump addressing the Russia rumors, Meyers said: "When Trump lies, he sweats like a fugitive who's being chased by a pack of police dogs."
In the clip, Trump waves his hands and tells a White House audience: "Well, I had nothing to do with it. I have nothing to do with Russia. I told you, I have no deals there."
"It's like when the cops separate two suspects in a bank heist, and one of them says, 'I'd like to speak to my lawyer,' and the other guy's in the next room, screaming, 'It was all Mike's idea!'" Meyers joked.
Trump's hand gestures during the footage, he added, look like practice for wearing handcuffs or holding a name slate for a mugshot.
The bit was part of Wednesday's Late Night with Seth Meyers' "A Closer Look" segment, in which Meyers reviewed Trump supporters changing lines on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, from Pence's complete denial in January 2017 to Rudy Giuliani's July 2018 claim on Fox & Friends that collusion isn't a crime.
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Katherine Hignett is a reporter based in London. She currently covers current affairs, health and science. Prior to joining Newsweek ... Read more
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