It's been a dramatic week for late-night television, and Donald Trump made sure the curtain fell with maximum noise.
Just one day after Stephen Colbert wrapped up his 11-year run on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the 79-year-old president went online Friday night and posted what can only be described as a petty victory lap an AI-generated video fantasizing about throwing Colbert in the trash. Literally.
The clip depicts Trump walking up behind Colbert mid-broadcast on what appears to be the final taping of the show, grabbing him from behind, and launching him into a bright green dumpster. Trump then triumphantly slams the lid and starts dancing to "YMCA" the same Village People anthem he's adopted as something of a personal theme song. The video circulated on X, Instagram, and Truth Social simultaneously, making sure no corner of the internet missed it.
What made the moment land even harder was that the White House's own official X account shared the clip, capping it with just two words: "Bye-bye."
Online Backlash Was Swift and Pointed
People on social media were quick to call out what they saw as deeply inappropriate behavior from a sitting head of state.
"This is an official government account in a democracy," one user wrote, visibly frustrated. "This is what Orbanism looks like the president bragging, via AI video, that he forced a comedian who mocked him off the air and into the trash."
Others took a more sarcastic route. One user posted a reverse-engineered version of the clip showing Colbert tossing Trump in the garbage, writing, "Colbert just couldn't tolerate this dancing orange buffoon."
The comments ranged from political outrage to straight-up insults aimed at Trump. "Even in your wildest AI fantasy, you still look like a d---hebag," one commenter fired back. Another took aim at the White House social media team directly: "The White House account behaving like some cheap Facebook meme page. How embarrassing."
Trump Had Already Been Celebrating the Cancellation
The AI video wasn't Trump's first move that day. Earlier on Friday, he had already taken to Truth Social in text form to revel in the show's cancellation.
"Colbert is finally finished at CBS," he wrote. "Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he's finally gone!"
He didn't stop there. Trump also suggested that Colbert's exit was just the beginning, warning that other late-night hosts who have been critical of him would soon face the same fate. "Others, of even less talent, to soon follow," he wrote. "May they all Rest in Peace!"
Colbert's Farewell Was Anything But Political
Interestingly, Colbert's actual final episode on Thursday night took a completely different tone from everything swirling around it. After more than a decade of sharp political satire much of it aimed squarely at Trump Colbert chose to bow out without a single political joke.
Instead, the finale was warm, nostalgic, and filled with familiar faces. Celebrities and comedians dropped by for cameos, and the emotional high point came when Colbert was joined onstage by former Beatle Paul McCartney. The two closed the show together with a rendition of the Beatles classic "Hello, Goodbye" a fitting, if bittersweet, send-off.
McCartney, who reflected on performing at the same venue during The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, got a little sentimental about America. "The land of the free, the greatest democracy," he said. "That was what it was, and still is, hopefully." The word "hopefully" didn't go unnoticed.
The Bigger Picture: Politics and Late-Night TV
The cancellation of The Late Show was officially announced by Paramount last year, with the network insisting the decision was strictly financial. But skeptics weren't convinced, and for good reason.
Paramount's parent company is controlled by Larry and David Ellison a father-and-son duo with close ties to the Trump administration. The same administration, it's worth noting, had significant leverage over the Paramount-Skydance merger currently working its way through regulatory channels. Trump has also been openly praising the new direction CBS News has taken under that ownership, making it hard for many observers to see the cancellation as purely a bottom-line decision.
Whether Colbert's exit was driven by ad revenue or political winds or both one thing is clear: Donald Trump saw it as a win. And he wasn't quiet about celebrating it.
Comments
Post a Comment