Donald Trump's Late-Night Feuds Turn Emmy Season Into a Resistance Test

Late-night TV’s Trump problem has become an awards-season plotline.

The newly revamped Top Variety Series Emmy category this year brings Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, John Oliver and Saturday Night Live into the same politically loaded conversation. And with new voting rules that could see multiple winners, it may be Hollywood’s most visible way to reward late night’s resistance to President Donald Trump.

The question is no longer just who had the best season, but which host Hollywood wants to send back into the feud with a trophy.

Colbert won last year after CBS canceled The Late Show shortly before voting began, giving the award the feel of a farewell and a rebuke. Kimmel, who campaigned for Colbert with an Emmy-season billboard, may now have his own case.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled for five days in September after he joked about reaction to conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk’s assassination, following pressure from the Federal Communications Commission. Trump later called again for Kimmel to be fired after a joke involving Melania Trump.

Kimmel has never won the top prize for Jimmy Kimmel Live! despite 24 seasons on the air. Asked by The Hollywood Reporter what would save late night, he answered, “A different president would be a good start.”

Trump has done plenty to keep late night’s anti-Trump identity alive.

On July 26, he posted a seemingly AI-generated image on Truth Social showing Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Colbert dressed as beggars on a New York City street. In the image, the three hold signs reading “talentless, not funny, ex comedians, need money,” while “Late night is over” is painted behind them.

The post followed Trump’s attacks at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he called Kimmel, Fallon and Colbert “terrible” and “without talent.”

Those posts now function like fuel. Every attack gives hosts another monologue, another clip and another chance to cast themselves as targets of presidential thin skin.

The cycle is especially clear around Kimmel, whose jokes have repeatedly triggered responses from Trumpworld. Colbert’s cancellation, meanwhile, remains tangled in suspicion among fans and allies who questioned whether CBS’ “purely financial” explanation was the whole story as Paramount sought regulatory approval for its Skydance merger.

Fallon has a different Trump history. His 2016 hair-ruffling interview drew backlash from Democrats for softening Trump’s image, and Fallon has apologized for it more than once.

This year, a new Emmy voting rule could make the symbolism even stranger. Voters are not simply choosing one winner; each nominee can win if it reaches 90 percent support.

That means Colbert, Kimmel, Stewart, Oliver and SNL could theoretically all leave Emmy night with the same prize.