Former WH Official Reveals the Condition Colbert Required in Order to Book Him for Show

Stephen Colbert’s team offered the National Security Adviser under President Donald Trump, during his first stint in the White House, a chance to appear on The Late Show in 2024 — but only if he would slam then-presidential candidate Trump and encourage the audience not to vote for him.

Retired United States Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster revealed the offer during an interview on the Hoover Institution's GoodFellows podcast. Show moderator Bill Whalen pointed out that late-night talk shows have "drifted to the left," which led to McMaster sharing his story.

“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.

He told Whalen that turning down the offer was an "easy choice," but he pointed out how the incident indicates the political agenda of late-night programs.

“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," he continued.

Discussion of free speech and censorship has ramped up following the assassination of conservative icon Charlie Kirk. Here's a prime example.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel delivered a monologue, which was really political gaslighting, saying that Tyler Robinson, Kirk's assassin, was MAGA. ABC suspended Kimmel for his comments following massive backlash from viewers. Radical leftists immediately cried foul, claiming that Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC, tried to limit liberal speech by pushing for Kimmel’s suspension.

During an interview on conservative commentator Benny Johnson's podcast, Carr had discussed Kimmel's comments and suggested that he was going to take action to hold him accountable for his false statements. Not long after that, ABC suspended Kimmel.

Folks on the right correctly note that conservatives have faced the same kind of crackdown on social media for years.

Not surprisingly, other late-night hosts — Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jon Stewart — issued statements backing Kimmel after ABC suspended him. Conservatives quickly called out the hypocrisy, noting the same hosts had once supported silencing conservative voices in similar situations.

Several clips of Kimmel cracking wise about ABC firing Roseanne Barr after she made controversial comments resurfaced and went viral following his suspension. Posts also circulated showing Kimmel celebrating Twitter banning President Trump and Fox News firing independent journalist Tucker Carlson.

McMaster stated during the interview that rather than utilize government "crackdowns," these shows should be allowed to eliminate themselves via low ratings. By the way, many of them have, since they have ditched any semblance of objectivity and creative humor.

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