Free Speech? Former White House Official Says Colbert Would Only Book Him If He Trashed Trump

The National Security Advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term said he was asked to go on CBS’s “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert in 2024, but only if he would denounce Trump and tell the audience not to vote for him.

Retired United States Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster made the revelation during a recent episode of the GoodFellows podcast, a weekly Hoover Institution broadcast. Moderator Bill Whalen mentioned that late shows have “drifted to the Left,” which prompted McMaster’s response.

“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 said.

The retired lieutenant general said it was an “easy choice” to decide against the appearance, but noted how it points to the political sway of late-night programs in general.

“I don’t know if it was just a producer or if it was Stephen Colbert directly, 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.”

The controversy over late-night shows and free speech has reached a fever pitch, with leftists crying “censorship” and conservatives pointing out that this has been happening to right-wing entertainers for years. ABC’s late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel, was briefly taken off the air for spreading false information about Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin.

All the other major late-night hosts, including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jon Stewart, spoke out in support of Kimmel, but are being labeled as hypocrites by anyone who noticed that they had previously been in favor of conservatives being silenced for perceived slights. 

Clips of Kimmel joking about Roseanne Barr’s show getting canceled for controversial comments went viral just after he was suspended, with followers pointing out the blatant hypocrisy. Kimmel can also be seen celebrating President Trump being banned from X and Tucker Carlson getting fired from Fox News.

McMaster said the answer isn’t government “crackdowns,” but letting low ratings bury the shows.

Representatives from ‘The Late Show’ did not respond to a request for comment.