Late-night television host Stephen Colbert slammed President Donald Trump’s celebration of the comedian’s CBS show getting canceled, saying that “the gloves are off” until his show is done next year.
CBS announced the cancellation of Colbert’s show last Thursday due to “financial” reasons, which Trump celebrated, saying the comedian’s talent “was even less than his ratings.” Colbert responded on his Monday night episode by asking if “an untalented man” could tell the president, “Go f*** yourself.”
Trump also criticized other late-night comedians and predicted ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel would have his show canceled next.
“Nope! No, no, absolutely not, Kimmel! I am the martyr! There’s only room for one on this cross, and I gotta tell you: The view is fantastic from up here! I can see your house!” Colbert said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Colbert then knocked Trump by discussing the Wall Street Journal’s report that Trump gave a birthday letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Colbert claimed the president is having “a hard time proving he and Epstein weren’t buddies,” suggesting the two may not have been friends but simply had “the same hobbies.”
Trump called the Wall Street Journal report “false, malicious, and defamatory” last week and is suing the paper’s owner, publisher, and the two reporters who wrote the report. The Washington Examiner Senior Reporter Salena Zito shared skepticism over it on Sunday, saying, “That’s not his signature” and that she didn’t believe the report “for a second.”
Meanwhile, Washington Examiner Senior Writer Joe Concha dismissed the idea that Colbert’s show getting canceled is a free speech issue. He suggested some are disappointed “a late-night therapy session for Democrats” is getting shut down.
Fellow late-night comedian Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, said Thursday he is uncertain about his show’s future amid the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media. Stewart said on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart podcast that his show provides the only “life” to the network but that it’s possible the whole network could be sold “for parts.”