Trump says comedian Stephen Colbert should be ‘put to sleep’
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US comedian Stephen Colbert often takes aim at American President Donald Trump in the opening monologue of his show.
PHOTO: AFP
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- Trump criticised Stephen Colbert, calling him a "pathetic trainwreck" and suggesting CBS "put him to sleep," after CBS announced The Late Show's end in 2026.
- Trump threatened to terminate broadcast licences for networks critical of him and MAGA, aiming to reshape what he sees as a biased media landscape.
- CBS cancelled Colbert's show in July after settling with Trump for US$16 million and pulled a 60 Minutes segment on El Salvador's prison.
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WASHINGTON - On the eve of Christmas, US President Donald Trump unleashed a fresh blast of vitriol at late-night comedy talk shows, saying comedian Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic train wreck” who should be “put to sleep”.
Colbert’s The Late Show is scheduled to end
In a late night Truth Social post, Mr Trump wrote that Colbert “has actually gotten worse” since being “terminated by CBS, but left out to dry”.
“Stephen is running on hatred and fumes – A dead man walking! CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ Now,” Mr Trump wrote.
Colbert has hosted the The Late Show since 2015 and it has been the highest-rated late night talk show on US television.
His opening monologues often take aim at the Republican President.
There was no immediate public response from Colbert or CBS to Mr Trump’s post.
CBS announced the sunsetting of Colbert’s show after one more season in July, the same month its parent company reached a US$16 million (S$20 million) settlement
CBS called the cancellation “a purely financial decision”.
Mr Trump had sued Paramount, alleging that CBS News’ 60 Minutes programme deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris in her favour.
In another overnight post, Mr Trump repeated threats to yank the broadcast licences of networks whose content he deemed overly critical.
“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 Licences be terminated? I say, Yes!”
On Dec 21, CBS’ new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes segment
In August, Disney-owned ABC briefly suspended its late-night star Jimmy Kimmel,
Kimmel had annoyed conservatives
Mr Trump appears to be aiming to reshape the US media landscape, which he says is biased against conservatives.
His appointee to head the Federal Communications Commission, Mr Brendan Carr, turned heads when he told a Congressional hearing that “the FCC is not formally an independent agency”, implying that his actions could justifiably be aligned with the political priorities of the White House. AFP
