President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night saw significantly low numbers, much to Stephen Colbert’s delight.
The late-night host gloated over Trump’s plummeting viewership for his record 108-minute speech. The Nielsen rating for the address was down by 11 percent from last year, Colbert noted gleefully.
“I mean, Donald Trump is really dragging down broadcast television,” he said. “I mean, if I were CBS, I’d cancel him!” he added, roasting his own network.
In the meantime, Colbert told his audience, other ratings are doing just fine, including those for The Late Show. Ratings for the veteran TV host’s post-State of the Union live show were up 7 percent.
“You know what I think is going on? People may not like watching Trump, but they do like watching me not like watching Trump,” Colbert joked.
He also mocked Trump by referencing the success of this year’s Super Bowl, which was headlined by reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny and sparked disproportionate levels of outrage from the right. Colbert said the 2026 Super Bowl received about “four times” the viewership as that of Trump’s address.
“I think Trump could have saved the whole thing with a blockbuster halftime show featuring ‘Bad Bernie,’” Colbert said, displaying a mock image of Bernie Sanders taking the stand in the House chamber, dressed like Bad Bunny and surrounded by back-up dancers.
Over 32 million people tuned in to watch the president’s address this year, according to Nielsen. The address was broadcast across 15 U.S. networks, with Fox News drawing the largest share of the audience.
But these numbers are still vastly lower than those seen previously. Last year’s address, delivered by Trump as he assumed the presidency once again in 2025, had around 36 million viewers. In 2019, he drew over 46 million viewers.
This year, around 38 percent of viewers had a “very positive” view of Trump’s SOTU address, while 36 percent rated it negatively. CNN’s political director David Chalian warned that the president is at his “low point.”
