Comedy Shows Play Dumb On Trump's Hormuz Blockade Announcement

Alex Christy
April 14th, 2026 9:40 AM

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The late night comedians like to think of themselves as the kind of people who use humor to highlight the absurdities coming from President Trump, but on their Monday shows, all they ended up doing was proving their own ignorance on the matters they chose to talk about. In this case, the subject was Trump’s announcement of a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz after Saturday’s failed negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan.

CBS’s Stephen Colbert brought out his Trump voice on The Late Show when he declared, “But once word got back to Trump that there was no deal with Iran, he posted his revenge. ‘Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the finest in the world, will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz.’"

 

 

CENTCOM has clarified the blockade would apply to any ship traveling to or from Iran, which makes sense. Iran was supposed to open the strait as a condition for ceasefire talks, and it has not. The Strait of Hormuz is not Iran’s private river, so if they are going to close the strait to others, it should be closed to them as well.

Nevertheless, Colbert thought it was a dumb idea, “Wait, so we're blockading Iran's blockade? That's actually genius. It's like a plumber saying, ‘You know, some guys would plunge this toilet, but I'm going to play some 12-dimensional chess and double clog it. Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Here's what we're going to do. We’re listening? Somebody get me a strong cup of coffee. I'm going in.’”

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, who has a bad habit of thinking his own lack of military knowledge is somehow a dunk on Trump, huffed, “He sent JD Vance to Pakistan for talks over the weekend that completely fell apart. So, in response to those failed negotiations, Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which, as you know, is already blockaded by Iran. He is establishing a blockade on a strait he wants open. And if that doesn't work, he's going to bomb Mar-a-Lago. So, but, two weeks ago, he was screaming, ‘Open the effing strait!’ Now he's closing the effing strait. He can't even keep the effing strait effing straight.”

 

 

All three comedy shows that aired new episodes on Monday refused to touch the rape and other allegations of sexual misconduct directed towards now-former Rep. Eric Swalwell, but Kimmel’s silence was especially deafening considering Swalwell launched his gubernatorial campaign on Kimmel’s show and has been a frequent guest.

Over at Comedy Central, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart mourned the failures of the Islamabad talks, “At least tell us after all this, there were some concessions, you got the Strait of Hormuz open.”

That led to a clip of CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield reporting that “President Trump announcing today a U.S. military blockade of all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.”

 

 

Stewart then broke out his Michael Corleone voice, “Now we are blocking it? What kind of [bleep] up Godfather—‘You think you're going to close the strait? No, my friend, we're closing the strait! You think you can kick me in the balls? No, watch this.’ Are we ever going to get this Hormuz straight? I'm telling you, man, it's all starting to fall apart in MAGA World.”

Just because Colbert, Kimmel, and Stewart do not know what they are talking about does not mean the counter-blockade is an absurd, but it would benefit hosts and audiences alike for them to do 30 seconds of basic research before embarrassing themselves on national TV.

Here are transcripts for the April 13 shows:

CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

4/13/2026

11:41 PM ET

STEPHEN COLBERT: But once word got back to Trump that there was no deal with Iran, he posted his revenge. [Trump voice] "Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the finest in the world, will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz."

Wait, so we're blockading Iran's blockade? That's actually genius. It's like a plumber saying, "You know, some guys would plunge this toilet, but I'm going to play some 12-dimensional chess and double clog it. Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. Here's what we're going to do. We’re listening? Somebody get me a strong cup of coffee. I'm going in.”

***

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!

4/13/2026

11:45 PM ET

JIMMY KIMMEL: He sent JD Vance to Pakistan for talks over the weekend that completely fell apart. So, in response to those failed negotiations, Trump announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which, as you know, is already blockaded by Iran. He is establishing a blockade on a strait he wants open. And if that doesn't work, he's going to bomb Mar-a-Lago. So, but, two weeks ago, he was screaming, “Open the effing strait!” Now he's closing the effing strait. He can't even keep the effing strait effing straight.

***

Comedy Central The Daily Show

4/13/2026

11:18 PM  ET

JON STEWART: At least tell us after all this, there were some concessions, you got the Strait of Hormuz open.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: President Trump announcing today a U.S. military blockade of all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

STEWART: Now we are blocking it? What kind of [bleep] up Godfather—[Michael Corleone voice] "You think you're going to close the strait? No, my friend, we're closing the strait! You think you can kick me in the balls? No, watch this.” Are we ever going to get this Hormuz straight? I'm telling you, man, it's all starting to fall apart in MAGA World.

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