Stephen Colbert mocked Michael Flynn for repeatedly pleading the 5th before the January 6 panel with a '5th'-laden rendition of the national anthem

• Stephen Colbert mocked Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for pleading the Fifth before the January 6 panel.
• Flynn dodged several of the panel's questions concerning his views about the Capitol riot.

Late-night show host Stephen Colbert took a jab at former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn during his opening monologue on Tuesday.

In a clip played during the January 6 panel's hearing on Tuesday, Flynn was seen taking a long pause before answering questions from Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney. Flynn pleaded the Fifth in response to several questions, including whether he felt that the violence during the Capitol riot was justified and if he believed in the peaceful transfer of power in America.

Colbert mocked Flynn for his responses, stating: "You were a general in the United States Army. You swore an oath to uphold the Constitution not deny its bedrock principles."

"How does Michael Flynn sing the national anthem?" he then asked, before bursting into song accompanied by his show's band.

"Oh say can you Fifth, Fifth Fifth Fifth Fifth Fifth Fifth," Colbert sang. "What so proudly we Fifth, by the twilight's Fifth Fifth Fifth."

Colbert also called on the audience, who rose to their feet, to join in his song.

Flynn is known to have played a part in trying to keep former President Donald Trump in power after the latter lost the 2020 election. According to emails obtained by Politico in February, Flynn was among those who drafted an order that would have instructed the Pentagon and the Secretary of Defense to "seize" voting machines and investigate Trump's baseless accusations of widespread voter fraud.

In March, Flynn was reported to have repeatedly pleaded the Fifth and invoked the right against self-incrimination before the January 6 select committee.

Colbert has been critical of Flynn on other occasions, including an instance in September 2021, when he criticized Flynn for pushing a baseless conspiracy theory about COVID-19 vaccines being added to salad dressing.