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In a flurry of social media activity, Donald Trump has taken aim at several prominent American television hosts, unleashing a tirade on his platform. While his recent online posts have predominantly centered around political issues, he had largely stayed silent on the latest developments regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files—until now. Overnight, the former president directed his anger towards Stephen Colbert, the host of CBS’s “The Late Show,” which is scheduled to conclude next year.
The announcement of the show’s cancellation came in July, shortly after Colbert criticized CBS’s parent company, Paramount, for agreeing to a $16 million settlement with Trump. Venting on his Truth Social account, Trump described Colbert as a “pathetic trainwreck” lacking the talent required for success in the entertainment industry. He further lambasted CBS for continuing to employ Colbert despite what Trump perceives as his poor performance and diminishing ratings. Trump declared Colbert to be “running on hatred and fumes” and suggested that CBS should end his show immediately as an act of “humanitarian” concern.
Expanding his critique to other network hosts, Trump questioned, “Who has the worst Late Night host, CBS, ABC, or NBC?” He accused all the networks of sharing three characteristics: high salaries, lack of talent, and “REALLY LOW RATINGS!”
In another post, Trump expressed frustration over the negative media coverage he and his administration often face, hinting at the possibility of revoking the broadcast licenses of networks responsible for such coverage.
He argued, “If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES!”
With his rant finally over, Trump concluded the post: “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!”
It’s unclear why Trump singled out Colbert, but he has frequently taken issue with jokes made about him by late-night hosts, including Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers, during their opening monologues.
It is known that Kimmel, 58, is not a fan of Trump, who expressed satisfaction when the presenter’s show was briefly suspended in September following comments he made after the murder of Conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk.
When he returned, Kimmel hit out at Trump, saying: “You cared enough about my show to make your voices heard so mine can be heard. Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”
He added that Trump openly rooting for people to lose their jobs is “un-American” and “dangerous” before concluding: “He did his best to cancel me, instead he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”