The Thursday editions of the late night comedy shows truly proved that they are simply MSNBC with more jokes. Like that network, they appreciated that the first American pope, the newly elected Leo XIV, has criticized President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on immigration. The fact that he would rebuke their views on abortion, gender, and sexuality were inconvenient things to be ignored for the sake of politics.
CBS’s host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, is the one late night host who frequently likes to say things like “as a Catholic.” He was invited to the Vatican by Pope Francis, along with several other comedians, to discuss the trade, but he still puts his liberal beliefs first. On Thursday, Colbert downplayed Leo’s conservative traits in order to hype his opinions about Vance, “Of course, there’s lots of speculation on whether Leo will continue the progressive reforms of his friend, Pope Francis. No one knows for sure yet, but we do know that in February, he did tweet, ‘JD Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others.’ Holy Father, you had me at ‘JD Vance is wrong.’”
Over on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel thought there was something odd about Trump declaring he was looking forward to meeting Leo despite the latter’s previous criticism of him, “He did say he looks forward to meeting the new Chicago pope. Wait till he finds out how many times this new pope has criticized him.”
After running through some tweets from conservatives dismayed about Leo’s takes on immigration, gun control, and George Floyd, Kimmel returned to Trump, “This is a historic era. We have an American pope and a Russian president. Isn't it incredible?”
On NBC’s Late Night, Seth Meyers continued the trend, “And not only was Trump upstaged by a new pope, he was upstaged by a new pope who has amplified criticism of Trump's immigration policies on Twitter. In February, the new pope even responded to JD Vance using Catholicism to justify deportations by posting an article titled ‘JD Vance is wrong.’"
Breaking out his Chicago accent, Meyers, with allusions to Vance’s meeting with Francis just before he died, added, “Man, JD Vance—you guys, JD Vance is 0 for 2 on popes. He Grim Reapered the last one. He got dunked on by this one. That's how you know the new pope's from Chicago. You know, the pope's supposed to love everyone, but even this guy's like, ‘Hey, JD can kiss my ass.’"
At Comedy Central and The Daily Show, host-of-the-week Desi Lydic reacted to a series of conservative media clips lamenting Leo did not address the Vatican crowds in English, “Come on, does it really matter what language he speaks? It’s church, you’re going to be sleeping through it anyway. And besides, there’s going to be plenty of other stuff for conservatives to throw a tantrum about.”
That led to a short, two-clip montage about Leo’s social media history that was punctuated by MSNBC’s Katy Tur citing, “This one is directly rebuking JD Vance. The new pope, Pope Leo XIV, said, “JD Vance is wrong.’”
Lydic reacted, “Oof, the new pope does not like JD Vance. He really is an everyday American. Be careful, though, Father. If you piss off JD Vance, he's going to pay you a visit. You don’t want that.”
The comedy shows really are just like the rest of the media. They will use the pope to amplify their criticisms of Republicans but either ignore, downplay, or condemn his rebukes of Democrats.
Here are transcripts for the May 8-taped shows:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
5/8/2025
11:41 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Of course, there’s lots of speculation on whether Leo will continue the progressive reforms of his friend, Pope Francis. No one knows for sure yet, but we do know that in February, he did tweet, "JD Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others." Holy Father, you had me at "JD Vance is wrong."
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
5/8/2025
JIMMY KIMMEL: He did say he looks forward to meeting the new Chicago pope. Wait till he finds out how many times this new pope has criticized him. Right-wing social media is losing its collective mind because the new pope cares for the poor and the sick and the plight of immigrants, and they don't like that at all. Looney Laura Loomer says, “Catholics don't have anything good to look forward to, just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican.” This guy says "the newly selected pope trashed trump, trashed Vance, trashed border enforcement, endorsed DREAMer-style illegal immigration, repeatedly praised and honored George Floyd, endorsed a Democrat senator's call for more gun control” to which Catturd2 said, "This is so bad."
And another guy, "I was considering becoming a Catholic, not anymore." What a loss for the faith. Trump just hit the Vatican with an 80 percent tariff on pointy hats. This is the new pope. Cardinal Robert Prevost, native Chicago. He went to Villanova effort where he majored in poping. He—you know, they make them pick a name. He chose Leo XIV. Which is a shame. There have been 13 other Leos. We've never had one Pope Bob, which would have been pretty great. How have there been so many popes named Leo? Leo doesn't even sound like a pope name. Sounds more like the altar boy who got high and ate all the communion wafers. Leo! So, congratulations to him. This is a historic era. We have an American pope and a Russian president. Isn't it incredible?
***
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
5/9/2025
12:42 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: And not only was Trump upstaged by a new pope, he was upstaged by a new pope who has amplified criticism of Trump's immigration policies on Twitter. In February, the new pope even responded to JD Vance using Catholicism to justify deportations by posting an article titled "JD Vance is wrong." Man, JD Vance — you guys, JD Vance is 0 for 2 on popes. He Grim Reapered the last one. He got dunked on by this one. That's how you know the new pope's from Chicago. You know, the pope's supposed to love everyone, but even this guy's like [CHICAGO ACCENT], "Hey, JD can kiss my ass." Want to get that impression out before we find out he definitely doesn’t sound like that.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
5/8/2025
11:05 PM ET
DESI LYDIC: Come on, does it really matter what language he speaks? It’s church, you’re going to be sleeping through it anyway. And besides, there’s going to be plenty of other stuff for conservatives to throw a tantrum about.
CONNELL MCSHANE: There's some tweets that, when the pope was still cardinal [jump cut] that are getting a lot of attention online that are politically charged.
KATY TUR: This one is directly rebuking JD Vance. The new pope, Pope Leo XIV, said, “JD Vance is wrong.”
LYDIC: Oof, the new pope does not like JD Vance. He really is an everyday American. Be careful, though, Father. If you piss off JD Vance, he's going to pay you a visit. You don’t want that.
