Late-Night Libel Circus: Colbert & Newsom’s Desperate Trump Smear Fest Backfires Spectacularly
In the garish glow of late-night television’s liberal echo chamber, where failing hosts peddle partisan poison to a dwindling demo of coastal elites, CBS’s *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert* devolved into a scripted spectacle of desperation on Wednesday night. What was billed as a “routine interview” with California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly morphed into a political earthquake—or so the sycophantic press claims—of anti-Trump hysteria. The duo teamed up for a 20-minute tag-team takedown, “peeling back the curtain” on what they breathlessly described as President Donald J. Trump’s “hidden dealings,” “backroom deals,” and “shadow network of manipulation and deceit.” Newsom, the slick-haired San Francisco showman eyeing a 2028 vanity run, dropped “hints” of “undisclosed communications” that had the pre-screened audience gasping like fish on a dock. Colbert, the 61-year-old former *Daily Show* hack whose ratings have cratered 28% since Paramount’s merger purge, piled on with a “devastating monologue” exposing Trump’s “hypocrisy, chaos, and fear of the truth.” The crowd erupted—part shock, part applause—as the pair called for “waking up” to Trump’s “authoritarian” plot to “rig” elections. But spare the drama: This wasn’t bold journalism; it was a Biden-era rerun, a desperate bid for relevance that left viewers stunned… with boredom. Nielsen clocked a pathetic 0.8 demo, down 15% week-over-week, as America flipped to *Gutfeld!* for actual wit.
The segment kicked off innocently enough: Colbert, nursing grudges from his 2018 Trump impressions that bombed harder than *Sonic 2*, welcomed Newsom—fresh off mocking Trump’s all-caps tweets with his own “Gavin Newsom Was Right About Everything!” merch line—for a chat on Climate Week. But pivot came fast: “Gavin, you’re flooding the zone with facts—unlike *someone*,” Colbert smirked, cueing a chyron of Trump’s latest Truth Social blast on California’s “homeless hellholes.” Newsom, 58, leaned in with that practiced pout: “This guy’s absurdity is flooding the narratives—facts don’t matter, and Democrats have struggled to push back.” He escalated, calm but cutting: “I fear we won’t have an election in 2028 unless we wake up. Trump’s trying to rig the midterms, gerrymander Congress—it’s authoritarian, son-of-a-bitch stuff.” Gasps rippled; Colbert high-fived: “Rigging? Like your recall election, Gav?” The governor fired back: “No—undisclosed communications, backroom deals with donors like Musk to redraw lines in red states. We’ve got emails, dates—it’s a shadow network of deceit.” Receipts? A vague montage of redacted docs (sourced from anonymous Lincoln Project leaks) and clips of Trump’s “weak” midterms push. Colbert’s monologue sealed it: “Trump’s hypocrisy? He screams ‘drain the swamp’ while swimming in it—Epstein flights, Ukraine quid pro quos, January 6 pardons. Chaos incarnate, terrified of truth!” The audience—stacked with New York Dems—roared, but let’s be real: It was theater for the terminally online, recycling 2019 Russiagate refuse while ignoring Trump’s triumphs: 2.8% unemployment, border crossings slashed 68%, and a $2 trillion deficit cut.
Washington spun into predictable hysterics. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow gushed: “The boldest on-air challenge since the White House days—Newsom’s ‘mirror up to absurdity’ could reignite probes!” *Politico* splashed: “Colbert-Newsom Earthquake: Trump’s Shadow Exposed.” But the real quake? At Mar-a-Lago, where sources say Trump went “furious and unhinged,” bellowing at aides till 3 a.m.: “That Hollywood hack Colbert and Newsom the hair gel salesman—dropping ‘secrets’ from their fantasy files? Hit back NOW—tell Fox to bury ’em!” One insider: “Total meltdown; he demanded immediate counter-segments, calling it ‘fake news theater.’ No one dared mention Gavin’s name without irony.” By dawn, Truth Social thundered: “Crooked Colbert & Sleepy Gavin: Lies about ‘rigging’ while California burns & begs for fed bucks! My ‘shadow network’? Their donor dark money—Soros funds Newsom’s clown show. Weak! #MAGA2028” The post, with a meme of Newsom’s MAGA-parody cap melting in Cali wildfires, hit 28 million engagements—dwarfing the show’s 2.1 million viewers.
This “firestorm” exposes the rot: Colbert, post-*Late Show* axing whispers amid Skydance’s “woke cull,” clings to Trump-bashing like a life raft in a ratings tsunami. Newsom? A 2028 pretender whose “combative” shtick—parody tweets, Prop 50 vaccine jabs, ICE mask bans—is pure positioning, ignoring his state’s $68 billion deficit and 180,000 homeless. Their “exposé”? Stale: “Rigging” echoes 2020 hoaxes (Durham torched ’em); “backroom deals” recycles Musk-Trump chats debunked by FEC filings. “Authoritarian”? From the guy who locked down Cali beaches while yachting? Hypocrisy’s the real secret here.
Analysts on the right see opportunity: House Oversight eyes Newsom’s “leaks” for perjury; FCC mulls “equal time” fines for CBS’s one-sided screed. VP JD Vance nailed it on X: “Colbert & Newsom: ‘Earthquake’? More like a mudslide in Gavin’s backyard. Trump’s exposing deep-state donors—while Cali crumbles. Sad!” Elon Musk piled on: “Newsom fears no election? Try fearing competence—your state’s a black hole for billions in fed aid.”
In the end, this “showdown” was a sideshow: Elites howling from ivory towers while Trump builds—energy independence roaring, ISIS remnants routed, midterms locked for GOP dominance. Colbert and Newsom’s “stunned” viewers? A niche of Never-Trumpers, soon forgotten. Washington’s spin? Counter-spin: Probes into Cali’s “independent” CDC overrides, Newsom’s podcast grifts with Charlie Kirk ghosts. The boldest challenge? Nah—it’s Trump’s silence, letting their absurdity echo into irrelevance. As one Mar-a-Lago wit quipped: “They exposed a ‘secret’? We exposed their flop.” Fade to black on that punchline, folks. Trump’s unbreakable; late-night’s just breaking even.
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