The U.S. government shut down on Wednesday, stunning Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night. Of course, the CBS host wasn’t surprised Congress failed to reach a deal, he was just surprised to see his show still running while the government wasn’t.
“I tell you folks, I definitely did not call this one, but evidently ‘The Late Show’ has outlasted the United States federal government,” he joked to kick off his CBS monologue. “Because we’re still open and they done shut down!”
The joke earned a loud cheer from the audience, as Colbert chuckled at the irony. “The Late Show” was cancelled earlier this year, in a move that Paramount maintains was an economic decision. But, the decision came as the company was finalizing a merger with Skydance, which would have needed approval from Trump’s FCC.
Following the announcement, Trump openly celebrated the news, encouraging ABC and NBC to fire their own late night hosts who regularly make fun of the president. All that said, Colbert joked on Wednesday night that maybe the government shutting down wasn’t the worst thing to happen.
“The government hasn’t been working that great lately, who knows why?” Colbert joked coyly. “Maybe somebody got the government wet. You know, let’s unplug it for a while, plug it back in, see if it reboots.”
“That doesn’t work, maybe toss it in a bag of rice. Leave it there for a couple hours, doesn’t work, we’ll just throw it away and buy a new one with a better camera and a functioning president,” he continued, earning an uproarious applause from the audience.
You can watch Stephen Colbert’s full monologue in the video above.
