Colbert on being seen as 'lefty figure': 'I think I'm more conservative than people think'

Comedian Stephen Colbert said that he believes he is “more conservative than people think” in a recent interview for GQ.

“People perceive me as this sort of lefty figure,” Colbert said in the interview posted Monday, which was highlighted by Mediaite. “I think I'm more conservative than people think. I just happen to be talking about a government in extremis."

"And so what I’m giving you is my reaction video to the day. And my reaction video is like 'The Scream,' in a way, but with jokes," he continued.

"It’s hard to have a balanced reaction to the idea of troops on streets of a city that actually is not undergoing an invasion."

The host of CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" also expressed being let down by Paramount after the network's parent company settled a lawsuit from President Trump earlier in 2025, referring to it as harmful to the company’s reputation.

“My reaction as a professional in show business is to go: That is the network’s decision,” Colbert said in the interview.

But "it is self-evident that that is damaging to the reputation of the network, the corporation, and the news division. So, it is unclear to me why anyone would do that other than to curry favor with a single individual."

In July, President Trump said that he was happy that CBS was canceling Colbert’s show. Throughout his tenure at CBS, Colbert has been a consistent critic of the president, going after him almost nightly during the week.

“I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” the president said on Truth Social at the time. “His talent was even less than his ratings.”

Trump also recently went after Colbert’s fellow late night-host Seth Meyers after he made fun of him for critiquing the way aircraft carriers are built amid remarks to members of the military last week.