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CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, once lauded as a fearless satirist who spoke truth to power, now appears to see himself as a Democratic Party booster first and a comedian second.
The liberal comedian rose to fame on “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” with his blowhard right-wing media persona, but his stance was still generally one of skepticism toward establishment politicians. But since taking over “The Late Show” on CBS in 2015, he’s given himself over more and more to praising Democrats and toeing the liberal media line.
That was crystallized on Thursday when he took the stage in New York City with Democratic presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton to moderate their conversation, as part of a record-setting fundraiser that brought in $26 million for Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign.
“Whatever you want to say about Stephen Colbert, you have to acknowledge his guts,” journalist Eli Lake joked. “How many other late-night hosts would risk the Hollywood backlash and come out for Biden like this?”
US President Joe Biden (2nd R) and former US President Clinton (R) take their seats as US talk show host Stephen Colbert (L) and former US President Barack Obama shake hands during a campaign fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on March 28, 2024. ((Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP))
The Bulwark’s Marc Caputo added, “We have a pretty robust media-covering-media industry, but there’s scant coverage about a host of a flagship show on a major network fundraising for a presidential candidate.”
It was a who’s who of liberal elites, with Lizzo, Cynthia Erivo, Queen Latifah and other celebrities also in attendance, but Colbert was at the center of its key event. Organizers charged a minimum of $250 to attend and up to $500,000 for a more intimate, exclusive reception. For $100,000, guests got a photo with all three presidents taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
A gushing feature in Vogue praised Colbert for leading “a compelling conversation between Biden, Obama, and Clinton with tact, grace, and a lot of laughter.”
“Colbert kicked things off with a series of delightfully mordant questions, among them: ‘All three of you have been on Air Force One… that’s made by Boeing, right?’ ‘Do any of you have plans to sell golden sneakers?’ and ‘Is it nice to live in the White House, or do you always feel like you’re in a museum?,'” Vogue’s article cooed.
Colbert also made sure to let audiences know he was on a first-name basis with Barack and Michelle Obama; the comedian once longingly said in 2020 he couldn’t think of any jokes to mock her Democratic convention speech because it was too good.
“The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert hosts his show on Feb. 29, 2024. (CBS/Screenshot)
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with you and your wife,” Colbert told Obama, according to Vogue. “She’s repeatedly asked me to call her Michelle… So my question is, to Presidents Biden and Clinton: Don’t you think I should be able to call him Barack?”
According to reports, Colbert called his guests “champion talkers” and mocked former President Trump in his questions, teeing up Biden and the others to tout the current office-holder’s economic record.
The evening ended with Colbert, Obama and Clinton putting on aviator sunglasses in tribute to Biden as the audience cheered and took pictures.
Whatever it was, it was a long way from Colbert skewering President George W. Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006. The routine was stunning at the time, even to many liberal Washington journalists, because of how withering Colbert’s commentary was against Bush’s presidency in contrast with the event’s usual lightheartedness. The ensuing furor helped propel his reputation as a thorn in the side of the establishment.
Mainstream news reports about Thursday’s fundraiser noted Colbert’s participation at the event but didn’t note the optics of a comedian rubbing shoulders with elite Democrats and helping raise money for them.
CBS and Colbert’s show didn’t return requests for comment.
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Media columnist Joe Concha noted Colbert isn’t alone in late-night as a left-wing voice. Seth Meyers offered Biden a glowing interview on NBC’s “Late Night” last month and got ice cream with the president.
“I’m surprised Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t the warmup act and Seth Meyers wasn’t walking around with a tin cup,” Concha told .
“This is why late night has become completely indistinguishable from MSNBC or the Lincoln Project’s X feed. It’s nothing more than a nightly Super PAC for the Democratic Party, and Colbert is the most pious, most predictable of the bunch.”
Stephen Colbert imitates President Biden on “The Late Show” on November 20, 2023. (The Late Show / YouTube)
Colbert has not troubled to hide his left-wing leanings over the years. More likely to host politicians and journalists than his late-night counterparts, he regularly fawns over Democratic Party guests and focuses his monologues on ripping into Republicans.
In 2020, he popped champagne over Biden’s election victory on the air, and in 2021, a video went viral of him dancing backstage at an event with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Although not expressly political, Colbert also did a 2021 segment, complete with dancers in vaccine costumes, to the tune of “Tequila” to advocate coronavirus vaccines. Many onlookers, even those who supported getting vaccinated and boosted, found it bizarre.
“That was strange. I want to be in the meeting when they pitched that,” podcast giant Joe Rogan said of the vaccine skit. “Like, where’s the joke? People are gonna watch this?”
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.
David Rutz is a senior editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @davidrutz.
