CBS’s host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert, and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel both dishonestly attacked House Republicans’ tax and spending bill on their Tuesday shows by leaving out crucial context for at least three talking points that made the proposal sound both reckless and “heartless.”
Alluding to the battle between Republican budget hawks and more moderate, blue state Republicans who want to bring back higher SALT deductions, Colbert brought out his President Trump impression and reported, “Right now, Trump’s lil Republi-buddies are on Capitol Hill trying to figure out— something out, a bill, but they are coming close to fisticuffs over his heartless tax-cuttin' boondoggle, which he's been calling his ‘Big, beautiful bill.’"
After quipping that “Big, Beautiful Bill” sounds like a male stripper name, Colbert continued, “The Buh Buh Bill has some real bad goodies in it. It not only adds over 3 trillion in debt, it cuts so much Medicaid that 7.6 million Americans would lose their health insurance, but Speaker Johnson is ramming it through with a self-imposed deadline of Memorial Day.”
Meanwhile, over at ABC, Kimmel attacked the plan, “Anyway, that was President Trump, who was barnstorming the Capitol today to give what he described as a pep talk in an attempt to cajole House Republicans into voting yea on his bigly spending bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says this will explode the deficit by trillions of dollars, while also transferring huge amounts of money to the wealthy and kicking around 7 million people off their health care. It will take food out of the mouths of millions of hungry children to get SNAP benefits.”
He also decried the “provision to eliminate a sales tax on gun silencers that make what they call suppressors more affordable, to which I say, ‘It's about time.’ One thing I think we can all agree on is the gun violence in this country is too loud. It's all so crazy. Their solution to climate change is to fire everyone who studies climate change. It's not happening if we can't see it, right? And there's no gun violence if we can't hear the shots.”
First of all, to say that the bill will explode the deficit is overstating it. What the bill does is extend the tax rates that were codified in 2017. Current deficit projections rely on the assumption that law will expire, leading to, yes, lower deficits, but higher taxes.
That leads to the second problem. Kimmel portrayed the bill as a wealth transfer for the rich, while Colbert called it a “boondoggle,” but nearly every American, not just the rich, faces a tax increase if Republicans do nothing. Also, keeping tax rates the same is a funny definition of a “cut.”
Finally, both men lamented that over 7 million Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage, while Kimmel added SNAP—something Colbert previously lamented—but the key provisions related to those two programs are new work requirements, which would have been obvious if Colbert didn’t cherry-pick from his USA Today source material. It also tightens existing rules against federal Medicaid dollars going to benefit illegal immigrants and discourages states from giving state Medicaid dollars to illegal immigrants or their children by reducing the amount of federal money to any state that chooses to do so.
So much for fact-checking.
Here are transcripts for the May 20 shows:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
5/20/2025
11:42 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Anyway, that was President Trump, who was barnstorming the Capitol today to give what he described as a pep talk in an attempt to cajole House Republicans into voting yea on his bigly spending bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says this will explode the deficit by trillions of dollars, while also transferring huge amounts of money to the wealthy and kicking around 7 million people off their health care. It will take food out of the mouths of millions of hungry children to get SNAP benefits and it contains a provision to eliminate a sales tax on gun silencers that make what they call suppressors more affordable, to which I say, "It's about time." One thing I think we can all agree on is the gun violence in this country is too loud. It's all so crazy. Their solution to climate change is to fire everyone who studies climate change. It's not happening if we can't see it, right? And there's no gun violence if we can't hear the shots.
***
CBS The Late Show
5/20/2025
11:38 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Right now, Trump’s lil Republi-buddies are on Capitol Hill trying to figure out—something out, a bill, but they are coming close to fisticuffs over his heartless tax-cuttin' boondoggle, which he's been calling his [TRUMP VOICE] "Big, beautiful bill."
It really sounds less like legislation and more like the husky guy at a male strip club. "Okay, ladies. Coming up to the main stage is Big, Beautiful Bill! You know him! You love him! The dad bod Adonis! He's gonna eat a whole pot pie with his bare hands. Grab onto those handles, ladies, before he runs off to Home Depot.
The Buh Buh Bill has some real bad goodies in it. It not only adds over 3 trillion in debt, it cuts so much Medicaid that 7.6 million Americans would lose their health insurance, but Speaker Johnson is ramming it through with a self-imposed deadline of Memorial Day.
