Stephen Colbert reacted gleefully to reports he had made Donald Trump’s “enemy list.”
Rolling Stone published an extensive report on Monday about Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, which included the claim that the ex-president wanted to target late-night hosts if he wins the White House back later this year.
Citing sources with direct knowledge, the magazine reported that Trump had been “venting about the need to punish late-night comedians for giving ‘illegal’ campaign contributions to the Democratic Party — in the form of jokes and on-air satire.”
After reading out this part of the report in his opening monologue on Monday’s episode of The Late Show, Colbert donned a fake mustache, nose and glasses.
“Wonder who he’s talking about,” Colbert — who consistently mocks Trump on his show — joked.
After reading out his name from the article, Colbert pumped his fist and cried “yes!” to cheers from the audience, who then chanted his name.
“Finally, I made an enemies list,” the host rejoiced. “Obviously there’s no guarantee I’ll be arrested, but it’s an honour just to be nominated.
“No doubt it’ll all be decided this weekend in Los Angeles when whoever wins the Emmy for best talk show will be sent to a camp.”
He continued: “So to my old colleague Jon Stewart, I just want you to know I voted for you. Of course, if Jon wins, he’s only incarcerated on Mondays.”
Kimmel made a similar jibe on Monday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, poking fun at Stewart, who only hosts The Daily Show on Monday nights.
“I’m glad it’s funny to you! He wants to lock up the late-night hosts?” Kimmel said as his audience laughed at the report. “How would this work for Jon Stewart? Would he only go to jail on Mondays? There’s a lot to figure out.”
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Speaking at the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, Kimmel shared a cheeky text he sent to fellow late night host Jimmy Fallon after news broke that NBC was cutting the latter’s show from five days to four.
“As a group, we have a text chain of all the late-night hosts and we sent all of our congratulations to Jimmy Fallon for getting Friday off,” he said.
Appearing to address reports questioning the future of talk shows, Kimmel then quipped: “There is no future for late-night.”
Late-night viewership has declined in recent years, as networks have been forced to take money-saving measures.
“Sadly, it’s the reality of broadcast and a shrinking market — streaming eating into this, and YouTube eating into that,” Late Night with Seth Meyers’s associate musical director Eli Janney said in June of the budget cuts.