Rachel Maddow Jokes When Colbert Asks If She’d Go Out to Dinner With Cuomo, Hannity: ‘Doubt They Eat the Same Things’

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow told Late Show host Stephen Colbert she has “a lot of respect” for her primetime cable competitors Chris Cuomo and Sean Hannity, but did offer a subtle jab at their notably pumped-up physiques when asked if she would ever consider going out to dinner with them, saying: “I don’t know what they eat. I doubt they eat the same things” as me.

Colbert had kicked off the segment by noting that he is friends with his late-night competition — the “Jimmies,” Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel — and that they occasionally have dinner together. Maddow, however, demurred when Colbert questioned her about a possible night out together for the 9:00pm cable hosts. Compared to the lithe Maddow, Cuomo practically bristles with biceps while Hannity has often boasted of his complex workout routine, which he claims is a unique amalgam of “krav maga, kenpo, jiu-jitsu, boxing, and street martial arts.”

“I have social anxiety. I don’t go out to dinner, so the answer is probably no just because of me,” Maddow replied to Colbert’s query. “But I have a lot of respect for both of them. I mean there’s— you know when you have this kind of a job, it’s a small cohort of people who do this work.”

“When you’re up against others who do this work well. Doesn’t matter if they’re competitors, they’re the ones who know what it’s like to do this job every day 52 weeks a year. I have nothing against them personally,” she continued, before appearing to contemplate just what such a meal might look like. “I don’t know what they eat. I doubt they eat the same things. They’re different guys.”

Colbert, a notoriously scathing critic of Hannity, quietly nodded his head and pursed his lips in reaction.

“You’re much nicer than I am,” he deadpanned after a beat, prompting Maddow to roll in her chair with laughter.

Watch the video above, via CBS.