Those were the classy words from a sitting United States senator to the sitting U.S. president Thursday night on what is supposed to be a late-night comedy show.
The senator here is Adam Schiff, a fixture on cable news despite being arguably the least credible lawmaker on Capitol Hill. Schiff is the face of the Russia collusion hoax on the Democratic side by insisting for years that there was “evidence in plain sight” of President Donald Trump and his allies engaging in nefarious behavior with the Kremlin to hack the 2016 presidential election.
The program, in which Schiff made this comment, was The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Colbert has become the go-to for Democrats and their friends in the media alike in turning the format and tone from what used to be the ultimate escapism of comedy and entertainment to an angry, unhinged extension of the kind of programming seen on MSNBC and CNN prime time.
On Thursday afternoon, the network announced that Colbert’s show would cease to exist in May 2026. The Late Show won’t continue in any form.
“This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night,” a statement from CBS read. “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content, or other matters happening at Paramount.”
On cue, the usual suspects immediately cried foul and pointed the finger at Trump.
“CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount for its $16M settlement with Trump – a deal that looks like bribery. America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons,” posted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
One can see why Warren is upset: The 76-year-old has appeared on the program 16 times during its ten-year run. Because nothing screams fun and frivolity quite like the Massachusetts senator. Warren’s 16 appearances even outpaced actor Tom Hanks, if you can actually believe that.
“I just want to take a minute to share how shocked and saddened I am that this show is going to be cancelled,” shared an emotional Anderson Cooper. He appeared on Colbert 20 times over the past decade, an average of twice per year.
Cooper came close but couldn’t quite top Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who will never be confused with Don Rickles yucking it up with Johnny Carson or Regis doing the same with Letterman. The 83-year-old socialist led all comers on the political and media front, with other notable regulars including CBS anchor Gayle King, who made 14 appearances, CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who joined 12 times, and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who sat down on eight occasions.
As the guest list indicates, Colbert sought to hold a mini-Democratic National Convention every evening at the Ed Sullivan Theater. The goal wasn’t to entertain or even push policy ideas, but simply to dunk on Trump.
“My testosterone sometimes makes me want to feel like punching Trump,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) declared to a smiling Colbert in 2019.
“There’s no question that he’s using a fascist playbook,” charged “Republican” Liz Cheney in 2023.
As for Colbert, there are too many examples to count of classless and even homophobic insults hurled at Trump, which were anything but funny.
“The only thing [Trump’s] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c*** holster,” he said to cheers from the New York audience in May 2017.
“Of course, Trump does not like the Squad. He is the leader of the rival gang ‘the Klan,’” he said on another occasion.
“Why should our soldiers be fighting radicals in a Civil War in Afghanistan? We’ve got our own on Capitol Hill,” Colbert said of lawmakers who support Trump.
Of course, the media is both crestfallen and dishonest in covering Colbert’s impending ouster.
“CBS cancels Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, citing ‘financial reasons.’ Many suspect the real reason is Trump,” reads the headline from Time. And in the piece, several Democrats are quoted, along with a far-left activist pushing the narrative that Trump was behind Colbert’s demise.
Of course, this is the laziest journalism one could imagine. Here’s the actual story: The Late Show lost $40 million last year, continuing a trend that has shown the program has not been profitable for some time.
Here are the numbers:
More than 100: The number of staffers working on Colbert’s program, including a band and an army of writers, producers, directors, and bookers.
$2.5 million: The amount each episode costs to produce the show nightly.
$130 million: The amount it costs annually to produce the show.
$20 million: Colbert’s reported annual salary.
2.4 million: The number of viewers watching Colbert’s show on average.
3.3 million: The number of viewers watching Gutfeld! hosted by Greg Gutfeld on Fox News, which has a fraction of the staff and resources Colbert has.
$40 million: The amount Colbert’s program has been losing annually.
The last number is key. Colbert’s show is, by far, the most expensive to produce at CBS. The network overall is struggling in a big way, with its evening newscast a distant third, along with its morning show. Additionally, CBS finished the 2024-2025 season with just two prime time shows in the Top 15 (Netflix, in contrast, had eight).
Simply put, ad revenue isn’t just drying up for Colbert but across the late-night spectrum. Ad data firm Guideline estimates that late-night shows on ABC, NBC, and CBS earned $439 million in ad revenue in 2018 combined, but just $220 million in 2024. That’s a 50% decline in less than seven years. Unsustainable.
Overall, things are changing on the media front at a stunning rate. NPR and PBS finally lost their taxpayer funding, something Republicans have always talked about but never delivered.
Media darlings of the first Trump administration, including resistance warriors Jim Acosta, Terry Moran, Chuck Todd, John Harwood, and Joy Reid, have been reduced to cheap internet programs after being ousted or compelled to leave their respective networks.
ABC had to settle with Trump for $15 million after anchor George Stephanopoulos repeatedly called him a racist on the air. CBS just shelled out $16 million for its deceptive editing of an interview with Kamala Harris right before the 2024 election. The Washington Post continues to lay off employees, while the New York Times has seen its subscriptions plummet.
CNN and MSNBC are in a death spiral. CNN can’t draw more than 500,000 viewers in prime time these days, despite being in more than 90 million homes, while MSNBC isn’t doing much better.
Playing the anti-Trump card kept these media members and entities afloat in his first term. But as Colbert found out by napalming Letterman’s legacy at CBS, making Trump the sole focus while inviting (tedious) Democrats on as featured guests was a recipe for disaster.
A BAD WEEK FOR DEMOCRAT FRIENDLY MEDIA
The only question is … who will be the next to fall?
Here’s looking at you, Jimmy Kimmel.
