‘Maybe some should go to jail,’ Late Show host says
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Stephen Colbert became the latest late-night host to skewer the Trump administration officials caught up in the Signal text leak, calling for them to be fired before adding his belief that some should be jailed.
The Late Show was recorded Monday shortly after it was revealed that White House National Security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly invited The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to an encrypted chat where top officials hashed out secret war plans for an impending U.S. strike in Yemen.
As Republicans attempted to brush off the embarrassing security breach and Waltz said he takes full responsibility, Colbert finally took his opportunity Tuesday to call for the 18 members in the group chat to face severe repercussions.
“All of these people should be fired; maybe some should go to jail,” he said on Tuesday evening to raucous applause from the studio audience. “Who knows.”
Colbert also noted that the Signal chat may have violated the Espionage Act.
Stephen Colbert skewered Trump officials involved in the Signal group chat leakopen image in gallery
Stephen Colbert skewered Trump officials involved in the Signal group chat leak (CBS/YouTube)
“The only reason we know that they were doing any of this is because they accidentally included a journalist,” he said. “What else are these merit-based hires posting on? What are they doing? Where else? For all we know, for just $4.99 a month, you might see the launch codes on OnlyFans.”
“Again, all of these people on this group chat… are the people with the highest possible security clearance in the world who hold our most dangerous secrets, who aren’t even supposed to say these things out loud,” he added.
Colbert became increasingly irate and slammed Hegseth’s response after the defense secretary told reporters that Goldberg was a “deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist.”
“Then why was he on the war planning group!,” the furious host shouts as he approaches the camera.
“‘This guy’s an idiot and everyone hates him.’ You’re the guys that put him in the chat—you did. ‘He’s a moron.’ Okay then, don’t put him in the secret chat.”
Colbert became increasingly irate as he discussed Pete Hegseth's response to the security breachopen image in gallery
Colbert became increasingly irate as he discussed Pete Hegseth's response to the security breach (CBS/YouTube)
Goldberg wrote that Waltz invited him to connect on Signal on March 11. The journalist said he was added to the group two days later and no one appeared alarmed—or even aware—about a mysterious interloper being in the chat.
The national security and cabinet officials in the “Houthi PC small group” chat—including the likes of Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—have been criticized for the security lapse by pundits and politicians from both sides of the aisle.
Fellow late-night host Jimmy Kimmel shredded officials on Monday evening, joking that U.S. “national security is being guarded by a bunch of doofs you wouldn’t trust to throw your cousin a surprise party.”
As Democrats call for heads to roll in the wake of Goldberg’s damning report, Musk has rushed to excuse the behavior of embattled federal officials and said the systems used by the federal government are “shockingly primitive.”
In another X post on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that Goldberg is known for his “sensationalist spin” and that no war plans were discussed. Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk appeared to endorse this messaging, responding with three American flag emojis.
In a phone interview with NBC News Tuesday morning, Trump claimed that Waltz was “a good man” who had “learned his lesson” and would not be fired.