Soon-to-be-canceled Stephen Colbert poked fun at the president yet again on Thursday night - this time over his waning State of the Union ratings.
An estimated 32.6 million people tuned in to watch Donald Trump's remarks before Congress Tuesday night, according to Nielsen's preliminary figures.
Colbert homed in how the number was noticeably smaller than the 36.6 million who watched Trump's address to Congress just last year. In 2019, the conservative drew an even more impressive 46 million.
'Trump's talk-a-thon saw an 11 percent decrease from last year. Donald Trump is really dragging down broadcast television,' Colbert joked.
The host went on to reference his own impending cancelation, after it was claimed Late Night is losing $40 million a year.
'I mean, if I were CBS, I'd cancel him,' Colbert cracked, referring to his own network.
He then turned to his own ratings, rubbing a single digit gain in the commander-in-chief's face.
Soon-to-be-canceled Stephen Colbert poked fun at the president's lukewarm State of the Union ratings on Thursday.
An estimated 32.6 million people tuned in to watch Donald Trump's remarks before Congress Tuesday night, according to Nielsen's preliminary figures.
'But you know, linear television is doomed, and everyone's ratings are going down, right? I'm sorry. What's that? Our ratings were up 7 percent?' Colbert smirked.
'I'm up 7 percent. Wow. Holy cow. You know what? You know what I think is going on? People may not like watching Trump, but they do like watching me, not like watching Trump.'
The Manhattan audience responded with cheers - chanting the name 'Stephen' as the host continued.
'Preliminary viewership for Trump's speech is coming in around 32.6million. Compare that to the Super Bowl, which got over four times as much,' he quipped.
'I think Trump could have saved the whole thing with a blockbuster halftime show featuring "Bad Bernie."'
The joke was accompanied by an image of Bernie Sanders edited to like this year's headliner, Bad Bunny, with a series of back-up dancers. The Puerto Rican singer's performance spawned pushback from conservatives because the lyrics were mostly in Spanish.
A Wednesday poll from CNN found roughly 38 percent of Trump's State of the Union viewers looked 'positively' at the president's remarks. A similar 36 percent rated it negatively.
As for Colbert, his Late Show grew its total audience from 1.84 million viewers who tuned in for last year's live show following the president's joint address to Congress to 1.96 million total viewers for this year, according to Nielsen.
Colbert will air its last episode in May, as the show continues to lose cash due to declining ad revenue, showrunners said.
His remarks Thursday served as a continuation of the steady stream of criticism seen since Trump took office for the second time.
The attacks worsened after Paramount, CBS's parent company, reached a $16 million settlement with the president last year - a move Colbert called 'a big fat bribe' on-air. Paramount was in the midst of a merger with Skydance at the time.
Just days later, the host received news his show was being cancelled. The reason given by showrunners was declining ad revenue.
The multibillion dollar merger that required federal approval received signoff shortly thereafter, further fueling Colbert's attack.
The show will air its last episode in May. Colbert, 61, has yet to announce any future plans.