“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert and former President Barack Obama are such “best buds” that they should “get a motel room,” Republican Sen. John Kennedy (La.) said during a bizarre Fox News rant about their recent sit-down interview.
Colbert announced last month that he would be interviewing Obama one last time before the curtains close for good on his CBS program. Kennedy decried the former president’s Tuesday appearance during an interview on “The Will Cain Show.”
“I also got a kick out of Mr. Colbert,“ the senator said Wednesday. “He and President Obama are obviously best buds. Maybe they ought to get a motel room or something. They were just fawning all over each other.”
“I don’t have anything against Mr. Colbert,” Kennedy continued. “I’ve always thought that he was shallow as a puddle. Now, he doesn’t believe that. He thinks he’s one of the smartest people on the planet. Don’t take my word for it, ask him. His personal vanity has always been unshakable.”
The senator went on to argue that Colbert’s “problem” isn’t vanity — but his viewer ratings.
“He was losing CBS $40 million a year because nobody was watching, so CBS told him to sit his 50-cent ass down and they said, ‘You’re fired,’” Kennedy said about the late-night show getting canceled, which the network claimed last year was “purely a financial decision.”
The network announced the cancellation shortly after Colbert slammed CBS parent company Paramount Global for settling a $16 million lawsuit with Trump while awaiting federal approval for an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. At the time, Colbert referred to the settlement as a “big fat bribe.”
While his “motel” comment stood out the most, Kennedy also appeared taken aback by the contents of the interview, in which Obama discussed the state of U.S. democracy under Trump and complimented New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“I always thought President Obama was a capitalist,” he said.
Kennedy continued, “He certainly seems to have an affinity for Mayor Mamdani, and Mayor Mamdani is a socialist. He calls himself a democratic socialist but that’s a socialist that believes in obtaining socialism through the ballot box.”
Mamdani’s campaign last year centered on social safety nets for New Yorkers, including free bus rides, affordable housing and city-owned grocery stores. He famously defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in a stunning upset — leading conservatives to freak out.
The final episode of “The Late Show” is set to air May 21 on CBS at 11:35 p.m. ET.