--- title: Donald Trump Jr.: Stephen Colbert Apologizes to Eric Trump description: Stephen Colbert made fun of Donald Trump Jr. following revelations that he met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer during the 2016 campaign canonical: https://time.com/4854416/stephen-colbert-eric-trump-donald-trump-jr-russia-emails/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-12T12:14:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:31:08.649Z article:section: Politics og:title: ‘We Were Wrong’: Stephen Colbert Apologizes to Eric Trump After Donald Trump Jr. Emails og:description: "We always thought you were the dumb one" og:url: https://time.com/4854416/stephen-colbert-eric-trump-donald-trump-jr-russia-emails/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt231f356cb9014d5d/6988d54e4ee26249c630e1a5/donald-trump-jr-stephen-colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ‘We Were Wrong’: Stephen Colbert Apologizes to Eric Trump After Donald Trump Jr. Emails twitter:description: "We always thought you were the dumb one" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt231f356cb9014d5d/6988d54e4ee26249c630e1a5/donald-trump-jr-stephen-colbert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘We Were Wrong’: Stephen Colbert Apologizes to Eric Trump After Donald Trump Jr. Emails > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=9d231a92-36b8-4ba8-a56f-ce19834a992d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jul 12, 2017 12:14 PM UTC  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during a June 8, 2017 show. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during a June 8, 2017 show. Scott Kowalchyk—CBS/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jul 12, 2017 12:14 PM UTC Stephen Colbert made fun of [Donald Trump Jr.](http://time.com/4852998/donald-trump-jr-russia-lawyer-emails/) Tuesday in the wake revelations that the President’s eldest son met with a [Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer](http://time.com/4853850/donald-trump-jr-natalia-veselnitskaya-email-denial/) during the 2016 campaign. Trump Jr. [released an email chain](http://time.com/4853005/donald-trump-jr-emails-hillary-clinton-russia/) on Tuesday that shows he was promised “very high level and sensitive information” about Hillary Clinton from the Russian government during the 2016 election. “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Trump Jr., wrote back in the emails, which he shared in full on Twitter. On Tuesday night’s _Late Show,_ Colbert mocked Trump Jr. for publishing the emails on his own. “What are you doing? Who told him to do this? Does he even have a lawyer? Because you rarely see a cop show where the lawyer bursts into the interrogation room and shouts, ‘Keep talking. In fact, tweet out everything you know,'” Colbert said, before turning to Eric Trump. “At this point, I would like to issue a formal apology,” Colbert said. “I would like to apologize to Eric Trump. We always thought you were the dumb one. We were wrong.” > [](https://twitter.com/colbertlateshow/status/884937316468391936) Eric Trump spoke out on Tuesday in defense of his brother. “This is the EXACT reason they viciously attack our family! They can’t stand that we are extremely close and will ALWAYS support each other,” he said in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/EricTrump/status/884897415010041857). 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