Donald Trump celebrated CBS‘s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and attacked the two remaining broadcast network late night hosts, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
Trump posted on Truth Social, “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert! Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show.”
CBS announced Thursday that it was axing The Late Show for “financial reasons,” even though Colbert has been at the top of the late-night ratings.
The announcement was followed by speculation as to whether the cancellation was somehow tied to the pending merger of CBS-parent Paramount Global with Skydance. The companies need Trump administration approval for the transaction. Earlier this month, Paramount agreed to settle Trump’s lawsuit against CBS for $16 million, even though the network has previously said that the lawsuit was “without merit.” Trump sued in October over the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris.
In the wake of the cancellation of The Late Show, some Democrats, including Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren, have questioned whether the decision was “political.” Colbert has long been a comedic nemesis to Trump.
Fox News has heavily promoted Greg Gutfeld as a figure atop the late-night competitive landscape. But Gutfeld doesn’t go head-to-head with Colbert, Kimmel or Fallon. And Gutfeld’s show airs at 10 p.m. ET, earlier in western time zones, in what. technically is primetime, not late night.
