On Tuesday night, the 79-year-old president launched an explosive attack on Stephen Colbert, the longtime host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, calling him a “dead man walking” and saying CBS should “put him to sleep.”
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump described Colbert as a “pathetic trainwreck” with “no talent” and claimed the comedian was surviving on “hatred and fumes.” He accused CBS of keeping Colbert on life support despite what he called “nonexistent ratings,” and framed ending the show as “the humanitarian thing to do.”
The president didn’t stop there. In a follow-up post, Trump broadened his attack to late-night television as a whole, asking which network had “the worst Late Night host — CBS, ABC, or NBC?” He mocked the genre as overpaid, untalented, and plagued by “REALLY LOW RATINGS,” while sharing images of Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon.
Social media backlash
When screenshots of Trump’s posts spread on X, many users reacted with alarm and sarcasm.
One commenter asked whether Americans had become so used to Trump’s rhetoric that threats against broadcasters no longer raised concern. Another joked that Trump’s rage had convinced them to tune in to Colbert and other late-night shows just to see what caused the meltdown.
Others focused on the optics. One critic pointed out that Colbert’s approval numbers are often higher than Trump’s, while another lamented how far America’s global image has fallen, saying the world now “rolls its eyes and pities the mess.”
One user summed it up with humor, noting that Trump appeared to take the traditional “Airing of Grievances” from Festivus “VERY seriously.”
Colbert’s show still has time left
CBS announced back in July that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would be ending, but the program is not going anywhere just yet. The network confirmed the show will remain on the air until May 2026 and insisted the decision was driven by business considerations, not politics.
Trump, however, celebrated the news when it first broke. In another Truth Social post earlier this year, he said he “absolutely loved” that Colbert had been “fired” and predicted that Jimmy Kimmel would be “next.” Trump also praised Greg Gutfeld, claiming he was better than all other late-night hosts combined.
Kimmel, ABC, and legal threats
Trump’s feud with Jimmy Kimmel didn’t end there. When Jimmy Kimmel Live! was briefly pulled from ABC’s schedule later in the year — only to return after a one-week break — Trump erupted again.
He accused ABC of lying to the White House about canceling Kimmel’s show and claimed the comedian was “another arm of the DNC.” Trump even suggested ABC’s decision could amount to an illegal campaign contribution and hinted at legal action, boasting that a previous fight with the network had resulted in a $16 million payout.
As Trump continues to lash out at late-night television, one thing is certain: the long-running, bitter feud between the president and America’s comedians shows no signs of cooling off.
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