Stephen Colbert Mocks Trump’s SOTU Ratings Slump: ‘If I Were CBS, I’d Cancel Him!’

Stephen Colbert seized on President Donald Trump’s State of the Union ratings on Thursday night, mocking the president for “dragging down broadcast television” after viewership fell from last year’s address.

According to Nielsen, 32.6 million viewers tuned in to Trump’s 108-minute speech on Tuesday. The figure marked an 11% drop from the 36.6 million who watched his joint session address last year, which at roughly 100 minutes broke the record for the longest State of the Union speech.

Trump’s audience this year just edged out former President Joe Biden’s final State of the Union in 2024, which drew 32.2 million viewers.

On The Late Show, Colbert gleefully zeroed in on the decline, and couldn’t help but point out his own ratings jump by comparison.

“The Nielsen ratings for his speech are in, and Trump’s talk-a-thon saw an 11% decrease from last year,” he said to cheers from the audience.

“Donald Trump is really dragging down broadcast television. I mean, if I were CBS, I’d cancel him,” the host added, in a pointed jab at his own network’s decision to cancel his show, which is set to end in May.

Colbert then pivoted to The Late Show’s ratings figures: “But you know, linear television is doomed and everyone’s ratings are going down, right? I’m sorry, what’s that? Our ratings were up 7%?”

The audience cheered loudly as he continued: “Over the same last year? So last year’s and this year’s? I’m up 7%? Holy cow!”

As the in-studio audience began chanting his name, he followed: “You know what I think is going on? People may not like watching Trump, but they do like watching me not like watching Trump.”

Watch above via CBS.

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