

Donald Trump has reacted to Late Show With Stephen Colbert airing its final episode Thursday night. As expected, the president was thrilled that Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report, The Daily Show) would no longer be on the air. Trump posted to Truth Social in the wee hours of the morning, “Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off the street, and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!”via The Hollywood Reporter.
Although lacking the president’s support, Colbert’s last show gleamed with some of the brightest stars in the entertainment industry, including a musical performance from the legendary Paul McCartney. CBS decided to end the long-standing franchise last year. The show had been on the air for thirty-three years, with David Letterman (Private Parts, Late Night With David Letterman) hosting until his retirement in 2015. CBS has denied claims that the show was canceled under political pressure. Skeptics have noted that the cancellation fell at a peculiar time; a merger between CBS’s parent, Paramount, and Skydance was sitting on Trump’s desk.
Colbert has not been the only member of the late-night industry who is the subject of Trump’s ire. Trump expanded on his prior post, “Others, of even less talent, will soon follow. May they all Rest in Peace!” via The Hollywood Reporter.
While Trump has occasionally clashed with Seth Meyers (Saturday Night Live, New Years Eve) and Jimmy Fallon (Fever Pitch, Saturday Night Live), he was likely referring to Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Man Show), who has been the subject of two altercations with Trump during his second term. Kimmel was suspended after comments made about the alleged shooter in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The suspension sparked widespread outrage over concerns about free speech. The FCC has now initiated an investigation into ABC. Although the investigation is not in direct reference to Kimmel, it was intuited just after he and the president had been in another social media bout due to comments Kimmel made that happened to precede the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
