Comey interview gives Colbert his third-highest ratings ever

Former FBI Director James Comey’s first late-night interview on Tuesday gave CBS host Stephen Colbert his third-best ratings since taking over “The Late Show” in 2015, according to preliminary numbers from Nielsen Media Research. 

Only Colbert’s premiere episode and a visit by then-candidate Donald Trump in September 2015 were higher rated than Comey, whose media blitz this week also included stop at NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “The View.”

Comey is promoting his new book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” a memoir that has been sharply criticized by the White House.

{mosads}Colbert clocked a 3.5 household rating, beating NBC’s “Tonight Show” hosted by Jimmy Fallon and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” CBS also won the time slot in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic that advertisers covet. 

The host and the former top law enforcement official drank wine and talked about a variety of topics, including the president’s attacks on Comey on Twitter. 

“I’ve been gone for a year. I’m like the breakup he can’t get over. He wakes up in the morning … I’m out there living my best life, he wakes up in the morning and tweets at me,” Comey told Colbert.

On Sunday, the president called Comey a “slimeball” and predicted he would go down as the worst FBI director in history. 

Colbert, a former Comedy Central host, asked Comey during “The Late Show” if there was anything happening with the Russia investigation that the public hasn’t been told about yet. 

“Are there things that you know about the Russia investigation that were happening before you were fired that we haven’t learned yet as a public?” Colbert asked. 

“Yes,” Comey replied. 

“Can you tell me what those are?” Colbert continued. 

“No,” Comey answered, clearly amused. “No, and they’re not in the book. I had to have my book reviewed by the FBI to make sure it didn’t contain classified information or sensitive investigative information, so it’s not in the book.”

“OK,” Colbert responded before pointing to a cup near Comey. “Drink some more wine.”

Comey will sit down for interviews in the coming days with Fox News’s Bret Baier, CNN’s Jake Tapper, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and PBS’s Judy Woodruff.

A Sunday night interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos was Comey’s first interview since being fired by Trump last May.