Stephen Colbert Praises CBS Over ‘Insane’ Trump Video & Reacts to George Santos’ Release

Stephen Colbert credited CBS on Monday’s (October 20) edition of The Late Show for allowing him to show footage of a “disturbing” AI video President Donald Trump shared on social media over the weekend.
Late Saturday night (October 18), Trump took to Truth Social, where he posted an AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown and flying a fighter jet over the No Kings protests, dumping large amounts of excrement on the crowds below. Kenny Loggins’ hit track “Danger Zone” played over the clip.
“There it is: King Trump crapping on America,” Colbert said after playing the uncensored video. “Which is insane, though I will grant, factually accurate.”
The late-night host continued, “I want to take a second here to thank CBS for letting us show that video on television because some networks are not showing that video because it’s so disturbing. There’s rational reasons to not show that video, but I think we’re way beyond rationality at this point.”
“So thank you, CBS. Thank you,” Colbert added.
In July, CBS announced it was canceling The Late Show, with its final episode set to air in May 2026. CBS and its parent company, Paramount, have said only financial circumstances contributed to the decision; however, some critics believe the show was axed due to Colbert’s criticism of Trump and his administration.
Colbert went on to say there were “So many disturbing things about this video. Number one, the number two, second… eat a vegetable, baby!”
“This video was vile and violent and only proves the point of the No Kings march even more,” he added. “What decent democratic leader would ever post a video of themselves s****ing on peaceful protesters? He is a one-man hate march.”
Elsewhere in his monologue, Colbert slammed Trump’s decision to free former Representative George Santos. “Last year, the former congressman pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wire fraud and identity theft and was sentenced to seven years in prison,” the host reminded his viewers.
“But, defying all logic, king, not a king [Trump], arbitrarily commuted Santos’ sentence and released him from prison after he served just 84 days,” Colbert continued, “making Santos just the next pile of crap Trump is dropping on New York.”
You can watch Colbert’s full opening monologue in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, CBS