‘UNTHINKABLE’
Stephen Colbert Defends Fox News After Trump Calls It ‘Fake News’
The ‘Late Show’ host agreed with Trump that ‘something weird’ is going on at Fox News: ‘They’ve started reporting—and I hope I’m pronouncing this right—the truth?’
CBS
It takes a lot for Stephen Colbert to come to Fox News’ defense. But an unprecedented attack from President Donald Trump was apparently enough.
“Trump’s rally tonight has added urgency because everyone’s talking about how bad his poll numbers are,” the Late Show host said on Tuesday, referring to the president’s big 2020 campaign kickoff event in Orlando, Florida.
In this case, “everyone” includes Fox News host Bret Baier, who recently reported his network’s own polling data that shows Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in several battleground states. “Ouch,” Colbert said in response. “Fox News, you pledged to be there for him for better or worse. You keep this up, he’s going to leave you for a younger network.”
As he was watching that Fox segment Monday evening, Trump tweeted, “@FoxNews Polls are always bad for me. They were against Crooked Hillary also. Something weird going on at Fox.”
“Yes, I agree,” Colbert added. “‘Something weird going on at Fox.’ They’ve started reporting—and I hope I’m pronouncing this right—the truth?”
But then Trump “tweeted the unthinkable,” in the host’s words, labeling Baier “fake news.”
“If Trump can’t trust Fox, what’s he going to do?” Colbert asked. “His only source of news will be Snapple caps.”
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.