Stephen Colbert Condemns Charlie Kirk Shooting in Somber Show Opening

Stephen Colbert went off-script at the opening of Wednesday night’s Late Show to condemn the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, warning viewers that “political violence only leads to more political violence.”

The show aired just hours after news broke that Kirk had been fatally shot at a speaking event on a college campus in Utah.

As the show began, Colbert took a moment to offer his condolences to Kirk’s family and rebuke the attack as the “action of a madman”:

Good evening, everybody. After our scripts for tonight’s show were finished this afternoon, we here at the Late Show learned that Charlie Kirk, a prominent right-wing activist, was killed at a speaking engagement in Utah. Our condolences go out to his family and all of his loved ones.

I’m old enough to personally remember the political violence of the 1960s, and I hope it is obvious to everyone in America that political violence does not solve any of our political differences. Political violence only leads to more political violence, and I pray with all my heart that this is the aberrant action of a madman and not a sign of things to come.

With that, he started the show as originally planned.

Colbert was joined by fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel in denouncing the murder. Kimmel described the shooting as “horrible and monstrous” and called for an end to “the angry finger pointing” in a call for unity.

Watch above via CBS.