UMVA has learned that a bitter feud between Donald Trump and Stephen Colbert reached a fever pitch after Colbert's final episode of The Late Show aired this week.
The president took to social media to gloat over the show's cancellation, posting a message calling Colbert "a total jerk" and sharing an AI-generated video that showed him dumping the late-night host in a garbage bin.
The 22-second clip, which racked up millions of views, showed a smiling Trump walking onto the set of The Late Show as Colbert introduced his final episode, before an AI version of Trump hoisted Colbert up and deposited him in a dumpster to loud cheers.
The White House Instagram page also shared the post with the caption, "Bye-bye," as the internet was divided over the president's childish joke, with some supporters cheering him on and others criticizing him for posting jokes while pressing issues like rising gas prices dominated the headlines.
One critic quipped that it was surreal to see the president of the United States sharing such content, while another detractor suggested that Colbert was more popular than Trump, whose approval rating has taken a nosedive according to recent polls.
Shortly after Colbert's final episode, Trump slammed the comedian in a post, writing that he had "no talent, no ratings, no life" and that he was like a "dead person" who could be replaced by anyone off the street.
The war of words between Trump and Colbert had been escalating for months, with the president repeatedly taking aim at the comedian, who had been a persistent critic of Trump and his administration.
Colbert had criticized a deal between Trump and Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that was deceptively edited, calling it a "big fat bribe," which may have contributed to The Late Show's cancellation.
Trump had been predicting that Colbert's exit would lead to more late-night shows being canceled, and had been weighing in on Colbert's final episode, promising to have a message for him.
Colbert, meanwhile, had expressed surprise that Trump continuously fought with him and his fellow late-night hosts, describing their job as being like "clowns" and wondering how much it diminished the office of the presidency to even notice what they say.
