AceShowbiz - Stephen Colbert took aim at Donald Trump following the release of the president’s State of the Union viewership numbers, highlighting a notable drop compared to the previous year.

During Thursday’s episode of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert opened his monologue by humorously suggesting that CBS should “cancel” Trump for “dragging down broadcast television.” This was a tongue-in-cheek reference to Trump’s declining ratings and a nod to Colbert’s own show on CBS.

Colbert reported that the Nielsen ratings for Trump’s speech revealed an 11% decrease from last year’s viewership. “Donald Trump is really dragging down broadcast television,” he joked. “If I were CBS, I'd cancel him now.”

He then contrasted this with his own ratings, noting that while most linear television ratings are falling, his show experienced a 7% increase over the same night last year. “I’m up 7%. Wow. Holy cow,” he exclaimed, prompting his studio audience to erupt in cheers and chant his name.

Continuing with his comedic take, Colbert suggested that viewers might not enjoy watching Trump, but they do enjoy watching him react to Trump. He quipped, “People may not like watching Trump, but they do like watching me not like watching Trump.”

Before moving on, he joked that Trump could have boosted his numbers with “a blockbuster halftime show featuring Bad Bernie [Sanders].” The segment drew laughs and applause from the audience.

As reported earlier, Trump’s State of the Union address attracted 32.6 million viewers across 15 networks, down 11% from the 36.6 million who tuned in last year. The speech lasted from 9:12 p.m. to 10:59 p.m. ET.

Interestingly, while Trump’s numbers dropped compared to last year, they were slightly higher than the 32.2 million viewers who watched former President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS, where Colbert continues to blend political satire with commentary on current events.