The trend of the late night hosts devolving from comedians into DNC talking heads continued on Monday as they gushed over the weekend’s No Kings protestors. According to them, the size of the crowds should discredit the idea they were actually quite radical.
On The Late Show, CBS’s Stephen Colbert excitedly wondered, “Do you feel that? Do you feel the vibe? It's electric in here. You can feel the energy in this room because these folks are still high from the No Kings rally this weekend. That was beautiful! It’s a beautiful sight to see. On Saturday, 7 million people turned out in over 2,700 events in all 50 states.”
Colbert also tried painting the protests as mainstream, “Of course the far-left loons were all out 'n proud in the bastions of liberal anarchy: Lee's Summit, Missouri. Sarasota, Florida. Plano, Texas. Mount Vernon, Iowa, Leesburg, Virginia. And Idaho Pocatello, Idaho. Even the people in Idaho turned out to tell Trump ‘No, you da ho.’”
Fact-check: Lee’s Summit, Mount Vernon, and Leesburg are all in blue counties, while Pocatello is a college town.
Meanwhile, Late Night host Seth Meyers also used his NBC show to promote crowd sizes, “By the way, I can’t help but compare the size of the No Kings rallies to the size of the right-wing Tea Party protests back in 2009, which were much smaller but commanded an obsessive amount of media attention.”
After a montage of news clips from 2009 and 2010, Meyers continued, “Several hundred thousand Tea Party protesters compared to 7 million at No Kings rallies… It's worth keeping the comparison between the two rallies in mind just to put in perspective how unprecedented these anti-Trump protests have been. So, naturally, Trump has responded by choosing to lie about them.”
On Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Monday host Jon Stewart tried to suggest that GOP claims the rallies would be full of radicals were nonsense, “What the? Not the hardest core! I expected partial Marxism and hardcore, but not full display hardest-core ha-Marxism!…And so this weekend, we sat in our bunkers, doors locked, windows boarded, muskets and cyanide pills at the ready, prepared for whatever the hardest core had in store. Do your worst, display your max—Marxism to its fullest!”
It is a fact that the Communist Party USA was a co-sponsor of the New York City rally. Still, after a clip of protestors singing “This Land Is Your Land,” Stewart sarcastically mourned, “No! Not public domain folk classics, you monsters! Actually, it was kind of an incredible turnout that was somewhat inspiring.”
He further added, “Seven million Americans, zero mass shootings. Zero. That's just sad. No mass shootings? My god. Has that happened before? Even the dog parade had some nipping. It wasn't a hate America rally at all! I look forward to Republicans apologizing sincerely for implying that these Americans were what's the word I'm looking for? Deplorable.”
Later, Stewart welcomed Sen. Bernie Sanders to the show and asked him, “First of all, thank you for being here. How were these No Kings rallies? You went, you addressed one. Where did you speak?”
Sanders answered that he was in D.C. and hyped, “There were some 7 million people out and 2,600 events all over the country, not only in big cities, but in small towns. Bottom line: extraordinary. People came out and said no to Trumpism, no to authoritarianism, no to oligarchy.”
One of the other speakers at the D.C. rally was a Hamas apologist, but Stewart wasn’t interested in that. Instead, he heaped more praise on his guest, “And it grew from the previous expression of those, and obviously, you can go back and say, ‘Well, you know, maybe the left is building a similar thing to the Tea Party.’ With all of this potential energy that is moving in that direction, how do you harness that for purpose, for being directional? There are not a lot of people out there other than yourself, other than Representative Cortez, who are very clearly delineated about a point of view that people can rally behind.”
Sanders freaked out that, “We are in an extraordinarily dangerous time, as you know. You have an authoritarian president who wants more and more power, doesn't respect the Constitution, doesn’t respect the law… You've got a Republican Party that is in lockstep, kind of a cult of the individual. We've got to stop him.”
If a Tea Party rally had one distasteful sign, liberals would use that to smear the entire movement, but nobody in the media, comedians included, cares that a rally in New York was sponsored by the CPUSA or that the one in D.C. had a Hamas-supporting speaker.
Here are transcripts for the October 20-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
10/20/2025
11:37 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Do you feel that? Do you feel the vibe? It's electric in here. You can feel the energy in this room because these folks are still high from the No Kings rally this weekend. That was beautiful! It’s a beautiful sight to see. On Saturday, 7 million people turned out in over 2,700 events in all 50 states. There were absolutely massive crowds in Chicago, Illinois, in Los Angeles, in Boston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, and right here in New York, New York.
You know, we know -- you know New Yorkers are pissed when they voluntarily come to Times Square on a weekend. Rub elbows with the Elmos.
Of course the far-left loons were all out 'n proud in the bastions of liberal anarchy: Lee's Summit, Missouri. Sarasota, Florida. Plano, Texas. Mount Vernon, Iowa, Leesburg, Virginia. And Idaho Pocatello, Idaho. Even the people in Idaho turned out to tell Trump "No, you da ho."
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Peabody, please.
***
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
10/20/2025
12:47 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: By the way, I can’t help but compare the size of the No Kings rallies to the size of the right-wing Tea Party protests back in 2009, which were much smaller but commanded an obsessive amount of media attention.
LOCAL NEWS REPORTER [9/12/09]: New at 6:00, protesting the president, taxes, and health care reform.
The TEA Party, which stands for "Taxed enough already" has been traveling across the country calling for smaller government and reduced taxes.
REPORTER [7/4/09]: Thousands of activists held rallies in cities across the country, protesting big government and big government spending. Similar so-called Tea Parties sprang up around the country last April to blast the economic stimulus package, a movement championed by high-profile conservatives.
REPORTER 2 [1/27/10]: Best guess was that several hundred thousand participated in one or more of the protests last year.
MEYERS: Several hundred thousand Tea Party protesters compared to 7 million at No Kings rallies. And worst of all, they didn't even have a naked bike ride. The closest they got was one guy in a tricorn hat and a speedo. Also, tricorn hats and speedos weren't around at the same time. Sorry to be an ass[bleep] about it, but I can't stand historical anachronisms. It's worth keeping the comparison between the two rallies in mind just to put in perspective how unprecedented these anti-Trump protests have been. So, naturally, Trump has responded by choosing to lie about them.
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
10/20/2025
11:02 PM ET
JON STEWART: What the? Not the hardest core! I expected partial Marxism and hardcore, but not full display hardest core ha-Marxism! It was going to be like Mad Max out there with Chuck Schumer on flaming guitar! That’s a real photograph. And so this weekend, we sat in our bunkers, doors locked, windows boarded, muskets and cyanide pills at the ready, prepared for whatever the hardest-core had in store. Do your worst, display your max—Marxism to its fullest!
ANDREW DYMBURT: An estimated 7 million people gathered across some 2,700 no kings rallies and cities from coast to coast and what is being described as the largest single day demonstration in U.S. history.
ROSEMARY CHURCH: Not only were they largely peaceful, they were often joyful.
PROTESTORS: This land is my land, from California to the New York Island.
STEWART: No! Not public domain folk classics, you monsters! Actually, it was kind of an incredible turnout that was somewhat inspiring. Seven million Americans, zero mass shootings. Zero. That's just sad. No mass shootings? My god. Has that happened before? Even the dog parade had some nipping. It wasn't a hate America rally at all! I look forward to Republicans apologizing sincerely for implying that these Americans were what's the word I'm looking for? Deplorable.
…
STEWART: First of all, thank you for being here. How were these No Kings rallies? You went, you addressed one. Where did you speak?
BERNIE SANDERS: I was in D.C. There was some 200,000 people out in D.C. There were some 7 million people out and 2,600 events all over the country, not only in big cities, but in small towns. Bottom line: extraordinary. People came out and said no to Trumpism, no to authoritarianism, no to oligarchy.
STEWART: And it grew from the previous expression of those, and obviously, you can go back and say, “Well, you know, maybe the left is building a similar thing to the Tea Party.” With all of this potential energy that is moving in that direction, how do you harness that for purpose, for being directional? There are not a lot of people out there other than yourself, other than Representative Cortez, who are very clearly delineated about a point of view that people can rally behind.
SANDERS: Well, let me just say two things. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous time, as you know. You have an authoritarian president who wants more and more power, doesn't respect the Constitution, doesn’t respect the law.
STEWART: Well, a Supreme Court that’s granting it to him.
SANDERS: Right. That’s true. I mean, that’s part of the process. You've got a Republican Party that is in lockstep, kind of a cult of the individual. We've got to stop him.
