Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster says he was invited to appear on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in 2024—but only on the condition that he publicly condemn President Donald Trump and urge viewers not to vote for him.
The retired Army lieutenant general made the claim during a recent episode of the GoodFellows podcast, a weekly program produced by the Hoover Institution, where he is a senior fellow. During the episode, moderator Bill Whalen commented on the increasingly leftward drift of late-night television, prompting McMaster to share his experience.
“When my book At War With Ourselves came out, my publicist said, ‘Hey, you know, The Stephen Colbert Show said you could come on—but if you come on, you have to condemn President Trump and recommend that nobody vote for him,’” McMaster recounted.
McMaster, who served as Trump’s second National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018, said he declined the invitation, calling it an “easy choice.” However, he used the anecdote to highlight how politicized late-night comedy shows have become.
“I don’t know if it was just a producer or if it was Stephen Colbert directly,” McMaster said. “But you know, there has been this orthodoxy that has gripped late-night television. So many of these monologues, honestly… they’re just like diatribes. They’re not funny. Which might be why the ratings are going down.”
Colbert, Kimmel, and the Decline of Late-Night Neutrality
McMaster’s comments add fuel to the ongoing debate over partisan bias in entertainment media, particularly late-night comedy, which critics say has shifted from political satire to ideological messaging.
The issue was further inflamed earlier when ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel was briefly suspended after spreading false information about the suspected assassin of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s temporary removal sparked backlash from liberal commentators, who accused ABC of censorship—despite long-standing support from many of those same voices for deplatforming conservative figures.
Clips resurfaced online of Kimmel mocking Roseanne Barr’s firing for controversial tweets and celebrating Trump’s ban from X (formerly Twitter) and Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox News, which critics pointed to as evidence of double standards.
Meanwhile, fellow late-night hosts like Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jon Stewart rallied behind Kimmel, expressing solidarity over what they called “an attack on free expression.” But many conservative voices called them hypocritical, arguing that censorship is only considered a problem when it affects voices on the Left.
McMaster: Let the Ratings Speak
Despite the controversy, McMaster emphasized that the solution is not government regulation or censorship, but rather allowing audiences to vote with their remotes.
Indeed, network late-night shows have seen steadily declining ratings in recent years, as more viewers gravitate toward independent and digital platforms, including podcasts and political commentary shows hosted on YouTube, Rumble, and X.
READ NEXT: Jimmy Kimmel Begs Men To Vote For Harris
See how they act & media wonders why they get NO respect
This is not the country I came to.Nighttime shows were all funny and entertaining.The Democrats have done a helluva job to spread hate and destroy America,ajl began in the 50’s
They are not entertaining or funny — too hate filled.