CBS’s Stephen Colbert and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel attacked Vice President JD Vance on their Tuesday shows for claiming “it is a statistical fact” that most of the crazy people in politics today are on the far-left after the murder of Charlie Kirk. The duo claimed to have a study on their side to back up their claims that Vance was spewing “complete bull[bleep],” but that study has an expansive definition of “far-right” that conservatives would reject.
On The Late Show, Colbert introduced a clip of Vance guest-hosting The Charlie Kirk show, “Trump is also using the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk to go after folks who disagree with him. Before the FBI even had a suspect, Trump blamed the radical left, and since then, he and his allies have sought to link the murder, without evidence, to coordinated leftwing “Terror” movement funded by progressive and liberal charities. Yes, at this point, you have to assume that all charities are fronts for terror. And they try to get away without getting caught. That’s why the meals are on wheels.”
In the clip, Vance declared, “While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far-left.”
Colbert reacted by doing a half-baked Vance impression, “And it is a statistical fact that JD Vance yanked that statistic right out of his stat-crack. And they don’t want you to know that he’s making this stuff up. In fact, over the weekend, the Department of Justice deleted a study showing that domestic terrorists are most often right-wing.”
There are a couple of problems wrong with that study that ended in 2020. First, it counts white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and other related groups as right-wing even though conservatives, including Vance, who has an Indian wife, would unequivocally denounce such groups. Meanwhile, Kirk’s killer appears to have been motivated by a generic leftist opposition to Kirk’s supposed “hate.” The second problem is that the study only included fatalities. So, common property damage from left-wing BLM rioters is not included. Additionally, because nobody, other than the shooter, died at the Congressional baseball practice shooting, well-known incidents like that are not included.
Meanwhile, over at ABC, Kimmel did not apologize for implying the shooter was a MAGA type, introduced the exact same clip of Vance, “Meanwhile, many in MAGAland are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk. Yesterday, JD Vance, who himself famously called Donald Trump ‘America’s Hitler’ hosted The Charlie Kirk Podcast from the White House, where he pointed his little, mascara-stained finger directly at the left.”
After the video, Kimmel referenced the same study, “Right. And by “statistical fact,” he means complete bull[bleep], is what he means. In fact, so much so that the Department of Justice just removed a study that showed white supremacy and violence from far-right groups is the greatest source of domestic terror and extremist violence in the United States.”
After discussing January 6, Kimmel claimed people like Vance are trying to have it both ways, “The president and his henchmen are doing their best to fan the flames so they can, I guess, attack people on the dangerous left. Which is—are the dang—are they a bunch of sissy pickleball players because they’re too scared to get hit by tennis balls? Or a well-organized, deadly team of commandos? It can’t be both of those things.”
Sure it can. The left has its pot-smoking peacenik hippies, it has its violent street agitators, and it has people in between those extremes.
Here are transcripts for the September 16 shows:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
9/16/2025
11:43 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Trump is also using the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk to go after folks who disagree with him. Before the FBI even had a suspect, Trump blamed the radical left, and since then, he and his allies have sought to link the murder, without evidence, to coordinated leftwing “Terror” movement funded by progressive and liberal charities. Yes, at this point, you have to assume that all charities are fronts for terror. And they try to get away without getting caught. That’s why the meals are on wheels.
Just listen to JD Vance yesterday.
JD VANCE: While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far-left.
COLBERT: And it is a statistical fact that JD Vance yanked that statistic right out of his stat-crack. And they don’t want you to know that he’s making this stuff up. In fact, over the weekend, the Department of Justice deleted a study showing that domestic terrorists are most often right-wing.
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
9/16/2025
11:42 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Meanwhile, many in MAGAland are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk. Yesterday, JD Vance, who himself famously called Donald Trump “America’s Hitler” hosted The Charlie Kirk Podcast from the White House, where he pointed his little, mascara-stained finger directly at the left.
JD VANCE: While our side of the aisle has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far-left.
KIMMEL: Right. And by “statistical fact,” he means complete bull[bleep], is what he means. In fact, so much so that the Department of Justice just removed a study that showed white supremacy and violence from far-right groups is the greatest source of domestic terror and extremist violence in the United States. Here’s a question JD Vance might be able to answer. Who wanted to hang the guy who was vice president before you? Was that the liberal left? Or the toothless army who stormed The Capitol on January 6th? The president and his henchmen are doing their best to fan the flames so they can, I guess, attack people on the dangerous left. Which is—are the dang—are they a bunch of sissy pickleball players because they’re too scared to get hit by tennis balls? Or a well-organized, deadly team of commandos? It can’t be both of those things.
