{"id":290320,"date":"2026-02-18T18:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/290320\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T18:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:25:08","slug":"colbert-on-trumps-epstein-ties-apparently-he-does-not-know-the-meaning-of-exonerated-late-night-tv-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/290320\/","title":{"rendered":"Colbert on Trump\u2019s Epstein ties: \u2018Apparently he does not know the meaning of exonerated\u2019 | Late-night TV roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stephen Colbert<\/a> spoke about Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s bizarre reaction to more Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> questions and how Americans are struggling to feel optimism.<\/p>\n

On the Late Show, the host brought up a new Gallup poll, which shows that Americans are less hopeful than ever, with optimism at a new low.<\/p>\n

The number has reached into the 50s after previously landing at 69%. \u201cBack then the future looked \u2026 nice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump has also seen his approval rating fall to a new second-term low of 36%. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine that could get much lower but I\u2019m optimistic,\u201d Colbert quipped.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cOne reason his approval numbers might be cratering is Trump\u2019s pathological need to slap his name in gold on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week reports emerged to show that Trump suspended funding for a $16bn rail tunnel between New York City and New Jersey. \u201cHow dare you!\u201d Colbert said to a sea of boos.<\/p>\n

He said it could have been something for New Yorkers to enjoy briefly \u201cuntil it smelled like a thousand rats had an orgy and died in there\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reportedly Trump said he would only release the funds in exchange for renaming Washington Dulles international airport and Penn station after him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers will not be forced to commute to Trump station,\u201d Colbert said before offering the compromise of \u201cTrump Port Authority bus terminal men\u2019s room stall number three\u201d.<\/p>\n

He joked it was \u201cthe one without the door or toilet\u201d.<\/p>\n

Trump has also requested a new official portrait from the Smithsonian that would encapsulate both of his terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat portrait isn\u2019t going to matter as there\u2019s only one thing Trump is ever going to be remembered for and that\u2019s the Epstein files,\u201d Colbert said.<\/p>\n

This week saw Trump make a \u201cbizarre declaration\u201d to reporters that he had been totally exonerated since the Epstein files were released. \u201cApparently he does not know the meaning of exonerated or totally or I\u2019ve been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Colbert said it had been \u201cso frustrating\u201d to see \u201cso few consequences for Epstein\u2019s pervert pals\u201d in the US but in the UK things have been different.<\/p>\n

He mentioned Andrew being stripped of his prince title and forced to move out of the royal lodge and into a large farmhouse instead. Colbert said it stood as a warning to others, saying \u201cyou keep it up, you get a five bedroom cottage max\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other names in trouble back in the UK include Peter Mandelson, Sarah Ferguson, Morgan McSweeney and \u201cthe right honorable Wallace of Gromit\u201d.<\/p>\n

This week has also seen more rumours of an affair between Kristi Noem and her top aide Corey Lewandowski. Reports suggest that Lewandowski fired a pilot for leaving Noem\u2019s blanket on a plane.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally that sort of abuse of power would raise some eyebrows but Noem had hers permanently raised years ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert spoke about Donald Trump\u2019s bizarre reaction to more Jeffrey Epstein questions and how Americans are struggling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-290320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}