When the Jokes Stop Laughing: Late-Night Hosts Turn Serious Over ‘No Kings’ Protest and Trump’s Response.NH

“He is a one man hate march … does he have a late night show we can cancel?” Colbert said of the AI video showing Trump pouring feces on protestors, as he, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon all chime in on the No Kings protest and how Republicans responded to it.

The No Kings protests over the weekend were the hot topic of the evening on Monday’s late night shows, as Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart and, even briefly, Jimmy Fallon all praised the massive response while criticizing the reaction to the rallies from Republicans.

“That was beautiful. A beautiful sight to see,” the Late Show with Stephen Colbert host said of the “massive crowds” across the country, quipping that “you know New Yorkers are pissed when they voluntarily come to Times Square on a weekend, rub elbows with the Elmos.”

There were an estimated seven million “No Kings” protesters who took to the streets in cities and communities across the nation over the weekend. As far as single-day protests go, it pales only to the very first Earth Day protest in 1970, which saw an estimated 20 million people hitting the streets.

President Donald Trump, joked Colbert, was “subtle in his criticism” of the rallies. “To prove he’s not a monarch, he posted this AI video of himself wearing a crown, flying a jet and strafing NYC with feces,” he said, referring to the video Trump shared that showed just that.

“There it is, King Trump, crapping on America, which is insane, but factually accurate,” Colbert continued. “I want to take a second here to thank CBS for letting us show that video on television because some networks are not showing that video because it’s so disturbing. There’s rational reasons to not show that video. But I think we’re way behind rationality at this point. Thank you CBS.”

“So many disturbing things about this video. Number 1, the Number 2,” he added. “Second, eat a vegetable, baby. You got a real problem!”

Colbert added that “this video was vile and violent and only proves the point of the No Kings march even more,” before asking, “What decent Democratic leader would ever post a video of themselves s–tting on peaceful protestors?” He concluded that Trump is a “a one man hate march,” before — referring to Jimmy Kimmel getting pulled off the air — wondering, “Does he have a late night show we can cancel?”

The Daily Show

Jon Stewart devoted the opening of The Daily Show to also commenting on the protests and the right’s response to them.

While they were largely peaceful gatherings, right-wing politicians and pundits warned about those who they believed would show up beforehand — calling the protestors “unhinged,” Marxist, Antifa supporters. “It’s gonna be like Mad Max out there, with Chuck Schumer on a flaming guitar!” joked Stewart, before showing footage of gatherers singing “This Land Is You Land”

“Nooooo! Not public domain folk classics! You monsters!” he exclaimed.

After poking fun at some of the costumes protestors wore, Stewart joked that Trump clearly isn’t a king because he doesn’t have the “broken down, inbred body of a king.” He then, however, showed a photo of Trump’s bruised hands and swollen ankles, before pointing out how a “real king would have his minions dismiss said infirmaries.” That, of course, was followed up by video of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attempting to explain them away.

“Maybe Trump isn’t an all powerful King … but he’s undeniably king adjacent, king-esque, moving for more,” Stewat concluded. “He’s the imitation crab of kings.”

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers devoted his Closer Look segment to the protests as well on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Showing footage from Boston’s rally, he joked, “Look at that crowd. There hasn’t been a crowd that big in Boston until Dunkin ran a promotion called Win a Free Munchkin Every Time You Scream Jeter Sucks!”

He then honed in on Trump’s response, saying the president “responded by choosing to lie about them” by calling the protests “very small” and paid for by “radical left lunatics.”

“Trump is desperate to pretend that his popularity makes him invincible but the No Kings protest proved the opposite is true,” said Meyers. “He’s stirred an unprecedented level of protest and discontent and now he’s threatening to respond by using the military. I like how his response to the No Kings rally is a reminder that it was a good idea to have a No Kings rally. I’m no king and I shall prove it with my unquestioned power.”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Fallon, meanwhile, kept his commentary brief on The Tonight Show.

“You know it’s bad when 7 million people make plans on a Saturday and actually follow through,” he joked, before breaking into a song about Trump’s busy schedule — which included references to his “cankles,” relationships with Vladimir Putin and Jeffrey Epstein and the AI video of him dumping feces on protestors.

Watch all the commentary above — and see which celebrities attended protests in the gallery below.