Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel are concerned about Trump's fealty to the First Amendment

Kimmel and Colbert on Trump free press attacks

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live)

published 12 October 2017

Wednesday kicked off with yet another big NBC News scoop, this one about President Trump asking for a "nearly tenfold" increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. "A tenfold increase?" Stephen Colbert gasped on The Late Show. "Excuse me while I onefold into the fetal position. He knows that we can already end all life on Earth, right? The cockroaches will survive — which is good news for Steve Bannon." Trump denied on Twitter that he said any of that and lashed out at NBC News — then at the free press.

Trump told reporters that "it's frankly disgusting how the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it," and Colbert had an answer: "For the record, people did look into it. In fact, 'We the People' looked into it and thought, yeah, they should write whatever they want." Sadly, "him the people" apparently disagrees with the First Amendment, suggesting that NBC lose its "license" for reporting "fake news" that demeans him, Colbert sighed. He had two follow-up questions — neither one of which addressed whether the president can pull a network's broadcast license. (Spoiler: He can't.)

Jimmy Kimmel also looked at Trump's tweet asking when it's "appropriate" to "challenge [NBC's] License," and he had an answer: "Never? I don't know, because that's what dictators do?" This is like the "Comic Book of Revelations," he said. "Everything Trump says is fake is true, everything he says is honest is dishonest." Kimmel showcased his "fun idea" of correcting Trump's tweets accordingly, and you can watch how that worked below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.