That includes Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson, who in a monologue for “Insurrection 2.0” on Monday called Colbert a “white extremist.”
Seven people who identified themselves as connected to the CBS “Late Show” were arrested by Capitol police following reports of unrest in the Longworth House office building on Thursday night.  The seven include Robert Smigel, the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
Colbert said on his show Monday night that they did “some puppetry and funny last minute makeup” when they were taken into custody.  He said it was no surprise.
“The Capitol police are much more vigilant than they were 18 months ago, and for a very good reason,” he said.  “And if you do not know why, I know which news network you are watching.”
Colbert said everyone involved was calm and professional.  He did not apologize for the incident.
CBS said the interviews conducted by Colbert’s team were authorized and predetermined by congressional aides.  It was not clear if the Capitol police had been informed in advance that they would be in a building that was normally closed to visitors.  Capitol police said the group had earlier said it was leaving Longworth.
Fox News has taken advantage of the story, which led Colbert to say that anyone attempting to equate January 6 with last week’s incident is a blatant insult to the memory of those who died at the Capitol.
“I’m shocked to have to explain the difference,” Colbert said.  “But an uprising involves disrupting the legitimate actions of Congress and screaming for the blood of elected leaders to prevent a peaceful transfer of power.  This was a first-class puppet show.  “This was hiking for the sake of nonsense.”
Carlson, meanwhile, denounced the work of the congressional committee examining what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6.  He hosted his show on Monday with the Colbert incident.
“We are literally still trembling as we realize how close our country has come to losing our democracy last Thursday,” he said.  June 16 is “a day that is forever marked in our memory, a day that has been included in the pantheon of tragic turning points in human history.  Where were you on 16/6?  “You will never forget – nor will we.”
He said Colbert should stop “spreading his hatred indefinitely, persuading future generations of insurgents to do what his saboteur team did last week.”
Chyrons on screen as Carlson spoke said “We are really scarred by what we saw” and “our wounds could take years to heal”.
“It will take treatment, it will take a lot of support from our surviving colleagues, before we can capture the carefree innocence that Stephen Colbert stole from us,” he said.