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Feminist comedian Samantha Bee did a full segment last fall gushing over Democratic New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as a "super hero" who could stop President Donald Trump.
Schneiderman resigned his position Monday night after the New Yorker reported on four women accusing him of physically abusing them during romantic relationships. Schneiderman denied wrongdoing but stepped down within hours of the report following public calls to quit by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.).
For her "Full Frontal" show airing Nov. 8, the one-year anniversary of Trump's election victory over Hillary Clinton, Bee interviewed Schneiderman and introduced him as a "hero who stood up to democracy's nemesis before." Schneiderman sued Trump for fraud over Trump University in 2013, and Trump has feuded with him ever since.
"Are you going to lead us out of the darkness?" Bee asked.
"The state attorneys general are going to be the first line of defense, because the Constitution kept a lot of power at the state level to hold a potential tyrant in check," he said. "We have that power now, and with great power comes great responsibility."
That last phrase is a famous line from the "Spider-Man" trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, so "Full Frontal" did a joke cartoon segment calling Schneiderman "Schneider-Man."
"No," Schneiderman said. "It is not going to be one hero. It's not going to be a quick fix for this."
He said he had a network of progressive attorneys general around the country who were the "core of the legal resistance." Schneiderman touted their successful fights against the Trump administration on issues like his travel ban.
"Aha! You are a super hero," Bee said.
The show even put a phone booth in the corner of his office as a nod to Superman. After Bee read out a list of Trump's tweets attacking Schneiderman over the years, including accusing him of wearing eye liner, she praised his "beautiful brown eyes."
Bee also became excited in response to an unconfirmed report that special counsel Robert Mueller had teamed up with Schneiderman's office in the investigation into former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort.
"You're going to save us!" Bee said.
"We're going to do it, but that requires a lot of people other than state attorneys general getting engaged," Schneiderman said.
"You're still a hero," Bee said.
"Just a lawyer," he replied.
"Fine, you're just a lawyer. Thanks for coming anyway," Bee said.
Schneiderman then jokingly vanished into thin air.