CBS’s Stephen Colbert and his wife, Evie, joined PBS News Hour on Monday to promote their new cookbook and discuss his approach to The Late Show. Colbert told Amna Nawaz that he will not welcome “disingenuous” politicians to his show, but not only is that not true, “disingenuous” might as well be Colbert’s way of saying “Republicans.”
Nawaz asked, “Do you have red lines, like people you won't talk to, like, would you have former President Trump on the show?”
Trying to provoke Trump, Colbert replied, “I’ve had him before, and he was kind of boring. So, no.”
On his Thursday show, Colbert would revel in Trump’s response to that line, but here he elaborated, “I don't like to have people on the show who I don't think are going to be honest agents of their own ideas. Politicians always represent an idea. So, if I think a politician is disingenuous, not to point out Mr. Trump specifically, because there are many politicians I wouldn't want to talk to that I think do not honestly represent what they actually believe, but are rather just playing to a crowd. So, that's just no fun.”
NewsBusters has been monitoring the daily late night comedy shows’ guest count since September 2022, and the only time in that period he had a Republican who said something that could be characterized as genuinely Republican was when former Rep. Liz Cheney told him blaming conservatism for Trump won't defeat Trumpism. Now, however, Cheney and Colbert agree in their support for Kamala Harris.
Additionally, Colbert is being the disingenuous one. His second most frequent guest (and most popular politician; John Oliver is number one) is socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who got famous railing against the “millionaires and billionaires” until he became a millionaire and is now just focused on billionaires.
Sure, Colbert does not talk to members of one of the country’s two main political parties, but Nawaz still tried to paint him as a man who favors a good discussion, “The Late Show on CBS is number one among all late-night shows, some of which are struggling with a changing landscape. Audiences may come to Colbert for the laughs, but seem to be staying for more.”
Nawaz then played a clip of hecklers interrupting former Speaker Nancy Pelosi at one of his Chicago DNC shows, to which Colbert lamented, “As you can see with the protest out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people.”
After the clip, she asked, “There were these pro-Palestinian protesters and she said, you know, 'I can't hear what they are saying.' And you took a moment to make sure she heard the questions that they were asking. Why?”
Colbert replied, “Well, I want to be respectful to my guests, but I promised the people who had protested during the first act of the interview with Nancy Pelosi that I would ask the question if they would sit and listen to what she had to say and, also, there's no way to move on from a subject unless you address the subject.”
For Colbert, Republicans are to be ignored, but Israel haters are to be taken seriously. As for the book, PBS was not the only public broadcasting company to help the Colberts promote their work. The couple also did an 8-minute interview with NPR earlier this month.
Here is a transcript for the September 23 show:
PBS News Hour
9/23/2024
7:47 PM ET
AMNA NAWAZ: Do you have red lines, like people you won't talk to, like, would you have former President Trump on the show?
STEPHEN COLBERT: I’ve had him before, and he was kind of boring. So, no.
NAWAZ: No.
COLBERT: Yeah. No. No. I don't like to have people on the show who I don't think are going to be honest agents of their own ideas. Politicians always represent an idea. So, if I think a politician is disingenuous, not to point out Mr. Trump specifically, because there are many politicians I wouldn't want to talk to that I think do not honestly represent what they actually believe, but are rather just playing to a crowd. So, that's just no fun.
NAWAZ: The Late Show on CBS is number one among all late-night shows, some of which are struggling with a changing landscape. Audiences may come to Colbert for the laughs, but seem to be staying for more.
NANCY PELOSI: We have to learn more about trust and peace and learning about each other, rather than—
NAWAZ: Rare moments of engaged conversation, like this from his recent interview with Nancy Pelosi.
COLBERT: As you can see with the protest out here, that answer is unsatisfying to some people.
NAWAZ: There were these pro-Palestinian protesters and she said, you know, “I can't hear what they are saying.” And you took a moment to make sure she heard the questions that they were asking. Why?
COLBERT: Well, I want to be respectful to my guests, but I promised the people who had protested during the first act of the interview with Nancy Pelosi that I would ask the question if they would sit and listen to what she had to say and, also, there's no way to move on from a subject unless you address the subject.
