Stephen Colbert roasted Pete Hegseth after the Secretary of Defense refused to “confirm or deny” whether the U.S. had “kamikaze dolphins” as a secret weapon amid the Iran war.
The late night host weighed in on the viral comment from Hegseth during Tuesday’s monologue for “The Late Show,” where he joked that he wasn’t convinced by the Secretary of Defense’s non-answer during the earlier press briefing.
“Well, then clearly we have kamikaze dolphins,” Colbert said. “We strapped porpoises with high explosives and then depressed them sufficiently that they’re willing to ram ships in exchange for the promise of herring.”
He added: “What do you think about that, Flipper?”
At this moment, the “Late Show” editors cut to a dolphin whistling in response, with the subtitles reading, “That’s f–ked up.”
“I agree,” Colbert noted as the studio audience erupted into laughter. “We’ve got suicidal dolphins.”
Colbert also took a moment in his monologue to warn his parent company, Paramount Skydance, on how the Iran war might impact the pending Warner Bros. merger.
“There are reports of the U.S. and Iran exchanging fire. And today, for the second day in a row, Iran hit the UAE with drones and missiles,” Colbert explained. “That is dangerous. Not just to [Middle East] peace but to my parent corporation, because Paramount’s bid to buy Warner Brothers relies on $24 billion in Gulf funds, including the L’imad Holding Company, which is run by the crown prince … of the UAE.”
He added: “This war could endanger the future UAE approved version of HBO with the hot ‘Euphoria’ reboot, ‘Obey Your Parents.’”
Watch Colbert’s monologue in full above.
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS.
