NEW YORK – The late-night trenches just turned into a full-on battlefield, and Stephen Colbert is loading the clip. In a blistering monologue on Wednesday’s The Late Show – aired November 26, 2025, amid the escalating Trump-Kimmel feud – Colbert didn’t just defend his ABC rival Jimmy Kimmel against the president’s FCC firing squad; he eviscerated it with a venomous one-liner that’s already etched into comedy lore: “Donald Trump wants Jimmy fired? Fine. But keep my friend’s name out of your weird little wet mouth.” The zinger, delivered with Colbert’s signature deadpan fury and a sip of what looked suspiciously like single-malt Scotch, drew a standing ovation from the Ed Sullivan Theater crowd and exploded across social media, racking up 12 million views on YouTube by Thursday morning. #WetMouthTrump trended worldwide, spawning memes of Trump as a cartoonish ventriloquist dummy with Kimmel’s face, while Colbert’s ratings spiked 28% – proving that when comics unite against a common foe, the laughs cut deeper than any executive order.

The spark? Trump’s unhinged Truth Social tirade on November 23, where he demanded CBS (a slip for ABC) “get the bum off the air” over Kimmel’s Epstein Files monologue – a 12-minute scorcher teasing unsealed docs linking Trump to Epstein’s orbit. But Colbert, ever the satirist with a spine of steel, traced the beef back to its 2024 roots: Trump’s FCC threats against late-night hosts who dared mock his post-election “mandate.” It started in April 2024, when Kimmel roasted Trump’s hush-money trial on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, quipping, “Donald Trump is the only man who could turn a felony into a felony – and still claim it’s fake news.” Trump fired back on Truth Social: “Jimmy Kimmel, a total DISASTER with his BORING show, should be FIRED immediately! Bad ratings, bad everything!” FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Trump’s handpicked bulldog, piled on with a “public interest” probe into ABC, citing “bias against conservative viewpoints” – a move that briefly suspended Kimmel in September 2024, costing the network $12 million in ad pullouts before public outcry forced a reversal.

Colbert, who’d already weathered his own brush with cancellation in July 2024 over a Daily Show bit lampooning Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf handicap as “evidence of election fraud,” couldn’t stay silent. “Jimmy’s not just a colleague – he’s a brother in arms,” Colbert thundered, pacing the stage like a prosecutor in a comedy courtroom. “Trump’s attacking him because Jimmy’s holding up a mirror to the Epstein mess – the files, the flights, the ‘favorite island perks.’ And what does Donnie do? Threatens licenses like a mob boss shaking down a deli. Keep my friend’s name out of your weird little wet mouth – because if you come for one of us, you come for all.” The line, a riff on Pulp Fiction’s “Say what again!” but twisted into Trumpian absurdity, landed like a gut punch: The audience howled, but Colbert’s eyes burned with the fire of a man who’s seen his show axed before (remember 2014’s Colbert Report pivot?). “This isn’t comedy,” he continued, dropping the mic-drop gravitas. “It’s a five-alarm fire on free speech. Trump’s FCC isn’t regulating airwaves – it’s weaponizing them. Jimmy’s shining a light on the dark; Trump wants to unplug the bulb.”

Kimmel, fresh off his own defiant Thursday vow (“It’s TIME! Bringing everything into the light!”), texted Colbert mid-show – a brotherly fist-bump captured in a split-screen cameo that had viewers cheering like it was the Super Bowl. “Stephen’s the godfather of late-night guts,” Kimmel later told Variety in an exclusive. “When Trump came for me in ‘24, over that trial bit, it felt like the end. But Stevie’s rant? It’s the rally cry we needed. We’re not backing down – the Epstein curtain’s lifting, and we’re holding the rope.” Their tag-team – Colbert’s intellectual scalpel slicing Trump’s bluster, Kimmel’s everyman jabs landing body blows – has galvanized the genre. Seth Meyers jumped in on Late Night Friday: “Trump wants Jimmy fired? Tell him to try canceling a show that actually makes people laugh – unlike his rallies.” Jon Stewart, resurfacing for a Daily Show guest spot, deadpanned: “Colbert defending Kimmel? It’s like the Avengers assembling – but with better suits and worse punchlines.”

The feud’s 2024 genesis? A perfect storm of Trump’s thin skin and late-night’s sharpening teeth. Post-election, as Trump railed against “enemy of the people” media, Kimmel’s April 2024 trial roast – “Stormy Daniels vs. The Art of the Deal: Who’s got the better payoff?” – drew FCC heat. Colbert, no stranger to the fray (his 2024 cancellation over a Trump golf gag cost CBS $8 million), fired the first defense shot in April: “Donald Trump attacking Jimmy Kimmel? That’s like a toddler throwing tantrums at bedtime – adorable, until you realize he’s got the nuclear codes.” Now, with Epstein files unsealing (first batch Friday, revealing Trump’s 2004-2010 calls and “island perk” emails), the stakes are lethal. Trump’s Truth Social rants – “Kimmel’s RATINGS are LOWER THAN BIDEN’S APPROVAL! FIRE HIM NOW!!!” – have backfired, boosting Kimmel’s viewership 40% and Colbert’s 28%. Polls? Gallup shows Trump’s approval at 42%, with 62% of independents backing “full file transparency” – a 15-point jump since Kimmel’s tease.

The FCC’s shadow looms large: Chair Carr’s probes, launched in April 2024 under Trump’s “public interest” banner, have already dinged ABC with $12 million in lost ads and briefly yanked Kimmel’s mic. “It’s not regulation; it’s retribution,” Colbert hammered, flashing FCC memos leaked to The New York Times. “Trump’s turning the airwaves into his personal hit list – Colbert, Kimmel, Meyers next? This is Nixon 2.0, but with worse hair.” Democrats roar: House Oversight Chair Jamie Raskin demanded hearings on “executive overreach,” while Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse tweeted: “Trump’s FCC threats? Straight out of authoritarian playbook. Protect our comics – or lose our democracy.” ABC’s brass? In damage control: A leaked internal email vows “full support for Kimmel’s journalistic integrity,” but whispers of “contingency plans” swirl if licenses get yanked.

Late-night’s united front? Historic. Meyers hosted a “Solidarity Special” Friday, with Kimmel and Colbert Zooming in for a roast relay: “Trump wants us off air? Fine – we’ll go viral on TikTok. His threats are like his golf swing: All wind, no follow-through.” Stewart, the godfather, summed it: “Colbert’s line? Poetry. Kimmel’s the spark – we’re the bonfire. Trump lit the match; now he’s getting burned.”

As Epstein files drop (next batch December 1), Colbert’s vow echoes: “This isn’t about us – it’s about the light. Trump’s wet mouth can yell all it wants; the truth’s drier, and it’s coming for him.” The monologue’s closer? A Colbert original: “To Jimmy: Brother, your weird little wet mouth friend says hi. To Don: Keep raging – it’s great TV.” Thunderous applause. America laughs – but this time, it’s with teeth.

Tune in nightly; the war’s just warming up. Lights, camera, resistance.