Late-night host Stephen Colbert has added his voice to a growing chorus of critics calling out White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, following her defense of President Donald Trump’s latest verbal gaffe.
Stephen Colbert mocks Karoline Leavitt in monologue
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert tore into Karoline Leavitt’s defense, branding it as pure propaganda. The controversy began after Trump’s keynote at the World Economic Forum, where he detailed his interest in Greenland but repeatedly substituted its name for Iceland. “I’m helping Europe, I’m helping NATO, and until the last few days, when I told them about Iceland, they loved me,” Trump said, also blaming a stock market dip on “Iceland.”
When NewsNation reporter Libbey Dean highlighted the errors on X, Leavitt fired back: “No, he didn’t… His written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.”
Colbert found this denial absurd. “That is some grade-A Big Brother propaganda,” he declared, referencing George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. He then twisted one of the book’s famous lines for a brutal punchline: “As George Orwell wrote in *1984*: war is peace, freedom is slavery, Karoline Leavitt is a dumba**.”
Colbert was not alone in calling out the press secretary. CNN’s Jake Tapper also fact-checked Leavitt on X, posting a video compilation of Trump’s mistakes. “I mean, you know that that was filmed, right?” Tapper said before playing the clips. He too invoked 1984, quoting: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
Tapper concluded by telling Leavitt, “You can lie to us if you want, but I don’t know why it’s worth it.” Even Jimmy Kimmel mocked Trump in his late-night show monologue.
