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As talk show host Stephen Colbert prepares to leave his show, he criticized President Donald Trump during an interview Tuesday with The New York Times.
CBS announced in July that it had canceled “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 a long-planned merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media.
Colbert addressed the saga in a New York Times interview titled, “Stephen Colbert Is Ready to Hang It Up.” When asked by the Times why the FCC and the Trump administration are “focusing” on him, Colbert argued that this is just bureaucratic lobbying.
“Officials don’t like anyone who doesn’t give them the dignity they deserve. Comedians are naturally against approval. And those in authority will never like anyone to laugh at them,” he said. “A number of reporters have said to me or Jon Stewart or any of the guys who do this, ‘God, I wish I could say what you’re saying on the air.’ And we can.”
COLBERT’S BEST MOMENTS AS A ‘BACK-TO-BACK’ QUESTIONER, FROM HOSTING A BIDEN FUNDRAISER TO FREAKING OUT WITH SCHUMER
Stephen Colbert argued to the New York Times that, if anything, accusing late-night talk shows of having a party “hurts the lawyer.” (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
“I think they are upset about that,” he added further. “I think it can be annoying that we don’t actually live in their world of power and authority.”
The New York Times interviewer suggested that Colbert is one of many late-night hosts who have become “political victims,” and went on to ask, “Given the way people have come together at night, do you regret that it has come to this point?”
“I don’t have a problem with Trump being a Republican,” said Colbert, whose fame began playing Republican commentators on his show “The Colbert Report.” “I have a problem with Trump being a totalitarian who only works for his own interests and doesn’t seem to care if the whole world burns down. That’s not a partisan position.”
COLBERT SKEWERS CBS FOR SIX DEEP PUBLIC RELATIONS, WHILE KIMMEL WRAPS DEMOCRATIC FUNDRAISER
Stephen Colbert has rejected the party label, but continues to criticize President Donald Trump as an authoritarian. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS)
“I have a pair of eyes and ears, and I think that calling someone in the middle of the night is harassing a lawyer,” he continued. “And we don’t even want to be refs, but they look at us as censors. I reject the partisan definition. Partisan means you’ll never make a joke about a Democrat, and that’s not true. There’s no comparing how fertile the fields are.”
Regardless of the cost or the alleged favoritism of Trump, many say that Colbert’s switch to “The Late Show” appears to be a sign of the times in the changing media landscape. The sheer volume of podcasts, which seem to overshadow late-night shows, and other media, has weakened their ratings, even though late-night stars have large online presences.
The final season of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” just happened he tore Assorted as it’s “bad TV” and doesn’t resonate with everyday Americans as the host has been humiliated by a liberal celebrity show.
When contacted by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson responded, “Stephen Colbert is a train wreck with no talent and bad ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and took him off the air.”
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Stephen Colbert has criticized President Donald Trump and his network several times since learning that his show was about to be canceled. (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
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