Stewart And Colbert Bring Back Anti-ICE 'Gestapo' Smear

Alex Christy
January 27th, 2026 10:16 AM

Text to Speech

00:00 00:00
Font Size

CBS’s host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, and Comedy Central’s Monday host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, both reacted to Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino denouncing those who have compared ICE and Border Patrol to the Gestapo by trying to argue the comparisons are legitimate.

The background for all the anti-ICE rhetoric was the Saturday shooting of Alex Pretti, but instead of waiting for an investigation to take its course or commenting on the specifics of this case, they tried to put it into a wider pattern. Stewart began by playing a clip from a recent Bovino press conference where he said, “Politicians, community leaders, and some journalists engage in that heated rhetoric…Calling law enforcement names like Gestapo.”

 

 

After mocking Bovino’s pronunciation of “Gestapo” by adding a bunch of unnecessary H-sounds to various words, Stewart got to his point by putting up a picture of Bovino in a Border Patrol trench coat and declaring, “I get that that language can be hyperbolic, certainly. But one thing that may not be helping your case, Sergeant Bovino, or whatever—can we get a quick fit check on this mother[bleep]? You know, first of all, it is slightly terrifying that you might be dressing for the job you want.”

Calling a trench coat proof of Nazism is like citing vegetarianism as proof that someone admires Hitler: it’s insane. Nevertheless, Stewart rolled on and had some suggestions on how Bovino could improve his message, “So if I can say, if you love the Gestapo coat, you may want to change the Gestapo hair. Because together, it's really 'shtapo. So, if you love the coat? Keep the coat. Instead of the fashi, you might want to give yourself the Garfunkel. Changes everything.”

Breaking out his Borat voice, Stewart continued, “Or if you're really into the reverse Larry David, keep the hair but maybe a less threatening uniform. ‘Very nice! Very nice! Very nice! Nobody is buying your shit right now.”

Later, on CBS, an unhappy Colbert reacted to a clip of Bovino on CNN claiming that Border Patrol agents are the real victims, “The only way they could ever be considered in any way victims is that they are, at best, weak-minded individuals, full of anger, who have been led to the darkness by Donald Trump and are now participating in an evil system that will stick to them like hot black tar for the rest of their lives. Guys. I’d cook at home from now, fellas, because no meal will ever go un-spit upon. Bovino went on complaining.”

 

 

He then played another clip from the same interview where Bovino told Dana Bash, “They're trying to portray Border Patrol agents and ICE agents as Gestapo, Nazi, and many other words.”

Colbert actually suggested the Nazis are actually above ICE on the moral ladder, “Yes, do not compare ICE or Border Patrol agents to the Nazis. That's an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces.”

Later, Colbert continued his tradition of welcoming politicians to parrot what he said in his monologue. This time the guest was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Colbert asked him, “Clearly you believe the government is a force for good. What is your reaction to this violence and incitement coming from Homeland Security?”

 

 

Shapiro proclaimed, “I do believe that government is a force for good and I believe this administration in Washington is using it for pure evil in Minnesota right now. And it should not be hard to say that… What they are doing, what they are doing there is violating people's constitutional rights. What we are seeing is a lawlessness from this administration that must stop.”

Such broad allegations of Gestapo-like behavior are untruthful and dangerous. Even if the investigation in this case reveals that ICE was in the wrong, it still does not change the fact that Renee Good drove her car at an ICE agent and that another agent was forced to fire his gun after being attacked by men with snow shovels.

Here are transcripts for the January 26 shows:

Comedy Central The Daily Show

1/26/2026

11:13 PM ET

JON STEWART: I’m sorry, Greg Bovino, you've got more to say?

GREG BOVINO: Politicians, community leaders, and some journalists engage in that heated rhetoric. [jump cut] Calling law enforcement names like Gestapo.

STEWART: [Bovino impression] “I'm shorry. Oh, I'm Shorry. Could you pronounce that again?”

You went full 'shtapo! Geshtapo? Geshtapo! I thought you guys hate when people do that. The way a Latino newscaster might throw out a "Maduro," a “Nicolas Maduro.”

But you are out there full Gesthapo! Like you're an extra in Jojo Rabbit. “Geshtapo. I’m Geshtapo.” In America we pronounce it Gestapo.

And I get that that language can be hyperbolic, certainly. But one thing that may not be helping your case, Sergeant Bovino, or whatever—can we get a quick fit check on this mother[bleep]? You know, first of all, it is slightly terrifying that you might be dressing for the job you want.

So if I can say, if you love the Gestapo coat, you may want to change the Gestapo hair. Because together, it's really 'shtapo. So, if you love the coat? Keep the coat. Instead of the fashi, you might want to give yourself the Garfunkel. Changes everything.

Or if you're really into the reverse Larry David, keep the hair but maybe a less threatening uniform. [Borat impression] "Very nice! Very nice! Very nice!" Nobody is buying your shit right now. I mean, we can't even get through a snowstorm without being reminded of how badly this is going for you.

***

CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

1/26/2025

11:40 PM ET

STEPHEN COLBERT: The only way they could ever be considered in any way victims is that they are, at best, weak-minded individuals, full of anger, who have been led to the darkness by Donald Trump and are now participating in an evil system that will stick to them like hot black tar for the rest of their lives. Guys. I’d cook at home from now, fellas, because no meal will ever go un-spit upon. Bovino went on complaining.

GREG BOVINO: Look, Dana, they're trying to portray Border Patrol agents and ICE agents as Gestapo, Nazi, and many other words.

COLBERT: Yes, do not compare ICE or Border Patrol agents to the Nazis. That's an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces.

…

COLBERT: Clearly you believe the government is a force for good.

JOSH SHAPIRO: I do.

COLBERT: What is your reaction to this violence and incitement coming from Homeland Security?

SHAPIRO: I do believe that government is a force for good and I believe this administration in Washington is using it for pure evil in Minnesota right now. And it should not be hard to say that. I think Americans are outraged by what they see. And no matter how many times this administration tells us to not see what we're seeing with our own eyes, I think all that does is create more of a rift in our country. Here's what is clear. And I know this is certainly as a former chief law enforcement officer of our commonwealth. I also just know this as a common sense American. That the mission in Minnesota must be terminated immediately. What they are doing, what they are doing there is violating people's constitutional rights. What we are seeing is a lawlessness from this administration that must stop.

Donor Privacy Policy