Stephen Colbert condemns Trump in NYT interview before ‘Late Show’ ends
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Talk show host Stephen Colbert condemned President Donald Trump in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, as he prepares to leave his show.
CBS announced in July that it was canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and that it would officially go off the air in May 2026. Liberal critics accused CBS and Paramount of ending the show to appease Trump and gain approval for the long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media.
Colbert spoke about the saga New York Times interview It was titled “Stephen Colbert Prepares to Hang.” When asked by the Times why the FCC and the Trump administration were “focused” on him, Colbert argued that it was just authoritarians being authoritarians.
“Authoritarians don’t like anyone who doesn’t give them undue dignity. Comedians are anti-authoritarian by nature. And authoritarians will never like anyone laughing at them,” he said. “The number of journalists who have said to me, or to Jon Stewart, or to anyone who does this, ‘God, I wish I could say what they said on the air.’ And we can.”
COLBERT’S MOST PARTICIPANT MOMENTS AS ‘LATE SHOW’ HOST, FROM LEADING BIDEN FUNDRAISER TO DANCING WITH SCHUMER
Stephen Colbert argued to the New York Times that accusing late-night talk shows of partisanship is just “hardening the referee.” (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
“I think it upsets them,” he added. “I think it might be a pity that we don’t live in their world of principality and power.”
The New York Times interviewer suggested that Colbert was one of many late-night hosts who “have become political targets” and asked: “Given how partisan late night has become, do you regret that things have come to this?”
“I have no problem with Trump being a Republican,” said Colbert, whose fame began parodying Republican commentators on his show “The Colbert Report.” “I have a problem with Trump being a complete narcissist who only works for his own interests and doesn’t seem to care if the whole world burns. This is not partisan.”
KIMMEL HOSTS DEMOCRATIC FUNDRAISER WHILE COLBERT PLAWS CBS FOR REFUSING TO DEPTH INTO HIS CANDIDATE INTERVIEW
Stephen Colbert rejected the partisan label but still accused President Donald Trump of being authoritarian. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
“I have eyes and ears and I think calling the partisan in the middle of the night would just be rude to the referee,” he continued. “And we don’t even want to be umpires, but they perceive us to be umpires. I reject the definition of partisan. Partisan means you would never, ever make a joke about a Democrat, and that’s simply not true. There’s no comparison to how efficient the fields are.”
Many argue that beyond mere costs or allegedly appeasing Trump, the replacement of Colbert’s rerun of “The Late Show” appears to be a sign of the times in a changing media landscape. The abundance of podcasts that have eclipsed late-night shows and other media has weakened their ratings, but all of the late-night stars have a large online presence.
The final season of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” recently aired. Broken up by Variety “it’s not very good television” and the host is out of touch with ordinary Americans as he is pandered to by a parade of liberal celebrities.
When contacted by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson responded: “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic train wreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and took him off the air.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS ON MEDIA AND CULTURE
Stephen Colbert has repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump and his own network since learning his show was about to be canceled. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
