It has now been over two weeks since CBS announced it was cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in May 2026. However, Colbert has responded by doubling down on the same jokes and guests that made viewers (and advertising dollars) turn away in the first place. According to a new MRC study, Colbert’s political jokes targeted conservatives and Republicans 95 percent of the time, and 100 percent of his political guests were liberals in the two weeks since his cancellation.
In the eight episodes from July 21 through July 31, Colbert told 129 jokes about right-leaning individuals or groups compared to only seven about left-leaning people or groups. That 95-percent disparity is considerably higher than his 2023 number of 86 percent or 2024 number of 82 percent, but in the same vicinity as the Joe Biden-less 2025. 
A disproportionate number have been related to President Trump and dead convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, but the “devout Catholic” has also found the time to mock the administration for allowing federal workers to discuss religion at work and display religious symbols.
Coming in at less than one joke a day, seven jokes about liberals is extremely low, but numbers do not tell the whole story. Some of Colbert’s jokes about liberals have been directed at his own liberal employer, hitting them from the left for agreeing to settle with Trump in his lawsuit. Although Colbert has never claimed he was canceled because of a corporate desire to appease Trump, he has quipped that Paramount forking over $36 million to Trump is close to the $40 million his show reportedly loses per year.
In the same time span, Colbert has had four liberal guests, including three elected or previously elected Democrats. They include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, and former Vice President and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Harris’s last-minute appearance meant the originally scheduled guest, NPR CEO Katherine Maher, got bumped.
Additionally, actress Sandra Oh appeared and tried to cast a plague on CBS and Trump for the former allegedly agreeing to settle and cancel Colbert to appease the latter. Full of nervous laughter, Colbert looked directly into the camera and insisted that CBS has been a great partner for him.
When Colbert was canceled, Democrats claimed the country had lost a great voice who was willing to speak truth to power, but here we see what they really meant: a reliable stream of friendly talking points and interviews.
