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Stephen Colbert Shook Up Late-Night Twice, but His Push Into Politics Could Have Ultimately Hurt the Format

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CitrixNews Staff
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Stephen Colbert Shook Up Late-Night Twice, but His Push Into Politics Could Have Ultimately Hurt the Format
May 20, 2026 10:20am PT Stephen Colbert Shook Up Late-Night Twice, but His Push Into Politics Could Have Ultimately Hurt the Format

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Brian Steinberg

Senior TV Editor

bristei See All The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Wednesday’s July 20, 2022 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS ©2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

Stephen Colbert in 2016 tried to bring together a nation that was coming apart.

On Election Night, Colbert and crew mounted a live special for the Showtime cable network, and as more electoral votes were called for Donald Trump, cementing a victory that set many Americans on edge, groans from the live crowd became more intense. Suddenly, Colbert’s comedy show was no laughing matter.

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