"Late Show" host Stephen Colbert found himself in the uncomfortable position last week of apologizing for another partisan attack, this time for denying the existence of a Muslim Democrat-turned-Republican voter for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon.
But it seemed to be a natural result of what his iteration of "The Late Show" has become since he took the CBS show's mantle from David Letterman in 2015. Colbert's program has become a one-stop shop for Democratic politicians and administration officials, and his monologue are dominated by partisan screeds against conservatives and Republicans.
In 2022 alone, as Colbert has used his show to aggressively tout President Biden and Democrats heading into the midterms, he has welcomed at least 13 different elected Democratic lawmakers and 13 Biden and Obama administration officials. In addition, he's had on at least 15 different explicitly liberal journalists or satirists, such as former "Full Frontal" host Samantha Bee, MSNBC's Joy Reid, 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones and MSNBC's Chris Hayes.
While late-night shows were classically known as places for movie stars and pop culture celebrities – and Colbert continues to bring on such guests as well – Colbert's bookings often resemble that of a daytime cable news show. In just the past few weeks, his guests included Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Biden medical adviser Anthony Fauci.
In Pelosi's appearance, he gave her "the floor" to predict Democrats would hold the House in the midterms. In another appearance by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., his audience chanted "AOC! AOC!"
In 2022 alone, he's also invited on Warren two other times, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Texas gubernatorial hopeful Beto O'Rourke.
Besides Buttigieg and Fauci, Colbert has brought on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Samantha Power, and Obama administration alumni like the "Pod Save America" hosts Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett, Obama communications director Jennifer Palmieri, and former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.
In his August interview with Jean-Pierre, Colbert sycophantically told her he and President Biden are "dear friends" and said "I love him."
And it's been clear he wants to help Democrats in the midterms, doing segments attacking such Republican Senate candidates as Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Herschel Walker in Georgia.
The clips of his show that populate his YouTube channel tell much of the same story; recent titles include, "12 GOP Election Deniers Are Running For Secretaries Of State," "[Elon] Musk's Problematic Twitter Takeover," "Dr. Oz Wants Local Officials in Charge of Abortions," and "Speaker Pelosi Displayed Superhuman Composure During Jan 6 Attack On The U.S. Capitol."
His snarky takes on Republicans got him in some hot water last week, though, when he had to eat crow about saying Dixon had made up an encounter with a voter who was concerned about the books his son was reading.
The man was identified by the Detroit Free Press as Khalil Othman, a father of five and a former Democratic candidate for state representative who migrated from Yemen nearly 20 years ago, had shared a video on Facebook of the comments he made at the Dixon event speaking out against sexually explicit content found in school libraries.
Colbert took the opportunity to offer a sarcastic apology, saying he was sorry but also blasting Othman for supporting Dixon, calling her "an election-denying, transphobic, COVID-19 conspiracy theorist."
"He's a bitter, elitist man," Fox News contributor Joe Concha said of Colbert's broadside against Othman. "This is so typical of one of the most insufferable Democratic activists in television. He couldn't just apologize… He should have just ‘taken the L.’"
Colbert has never bothered to trouble his progressive leanings, whether it be dancing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., crying for joy over the inauguration of Biden, and fawning over Michelle Obama's Democratic National Convention speech in 2020 to the extent that he was unable to think of jokes about it.
"My job is to have a joke for every time somebody says anything in public. But after watching Michelle Obama’s speech, I have never been more happy to fail at my job," he said glowingly.
Republican guests have been harder to come by this year. In 2022, one of the few non-liberal political figures to appear on the show was Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., the Jan. 6 Committee member who has been an outspoken critic of his party and is leaving office at the end of his term.
Fox News' Andrew Kugle contributed to this report.
