Stephen Colbert is calling out President Donald Trump over his latest attempt at peddling fake news.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that the ratings for Sunday's Emmy Awards, television's biggest night, were the not just "bad" but "the worst ever." He wrote:
I was saddened to see how bad the ratings were on the Emmys last night - the worst ever. Smartest people of them all are the "DEPLORABLES."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2017
Well, Mr. President, that is as fake as Nambia.
The awards ceremony was, in fact, the second worst performing Emmys in history—so there.
Colbert, who presided over the awards show, corrected Trump on Wednesday's episode of The Late Show, pointing to a Variety report that the 2017 Emmys were seen by 11.4 million viewers, which is 100,000 viewers more than the 2016 Emmys.
"I swear I heard someone say at the Emmys that they were the highest-rated ever," Colbert wise-cracked, referring to former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's buzzy appearance at the awards in Los Angeles.
The host then conducted a little fact-check on Trump's claims that it was the least-watched Emmys.
"Every single part of that tweet was factually inaccurate," Colbert said.
The Emmys weren't "last night" as Trump tweeted Wednesday morning, they were on Sunday. "I checked the TV schedule," the comedian said mockingly.
Related: Hillary Clinton calls out Vladimir Putin's "manspreading" on The Late Show
Pointing out that 100,000 more viewers watched Sunday's ceremony than the year before, Colbert gleefully said: "That's right. We had the second worst ratings of all time. In your face."
Sometimes you've got to take your victories where you can. Colbert certainly did when he segued into a "We suck less" chant.
Speaking of ratings, Hillary Clinton's high-profile appearance on The Late Show Tuesday helped Colbert beat his late-night rivals in the ratings.
The episode drew a 2.8 overnight rating in adults 18-49, reports Deadline. However, that is below the 3.1 rating for the August 14 episode of The Late Show, which featured Anthony Scaramucci's first late-night interview after being ousted from the White House communications director role after 10 days.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
