Fact Check: Did Stephen Colbert receive threats from President Donald Trump?
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A claim has been circulating on social media platforms that comedian and TV show host Stephen Colbert hosted a late-night live stream to inform viewers that he received a threatening message from President Donald Trump. Let us analyse the rumor and fact-check the authenticity of the claim.
Claim: Donald Trump threatened Stephen Colbert
The rumor surfaced in February and March, claiming that Colbert unexpectedly started a livestream at 3 a.m. to inform viewers he had been threatened by Trump.
The claim was shared by a Facebook page named Issa at least three times between February 16 and February 20, and on March 11.
It was also shared by other pages, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
Fact Check: Stephen Colbert did not make such a claim
However, there is no evidence to say that Colbert had unexpectedly started a livestream to inform about receiving a threatening message from Trump.
A search on Google yielded no credible results by prominent news media outlets reporting on the rumor, which, if true, would have been widely covered.
The posts that shared the claim were often accompanied by a link to an unreliable blog in the comments, suggesting that the story was fabricated to earn advertising revenue on websites.
Also, the other stories on Issa’s Facebook page featured multiple images generated using Artificial Intelligence, in which Colbert is seen speaking into several microphones, as if at a news conference.
Stephen Colbert mocks Donald Trump
Colbert has a history of clashes with the Trump administration. Recently, the late-night show host took a jab at Trump’s choice to replace Kristi Noem as the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Mocking the reasoning behind the nomination of Markwayne Mullin, Colbert suggested the decision was driven more by television appearances than policy credentials.
“Trump’s choice to replace Noem is Senator Markwayne Mullin. But why? You don’t know anything about him,” Colbert joked before delivering the punchline.
“Well, it’s just as dumb as you could possibly imagine. Insiders say that Trump loves watching Senator Mullin on TV.”
The remark drew laughter and applause from the studio audience as Colbert continued his monologue, skewering the administration’s cabinet shake-up.
