For his first televised interview from the controversial Obama Presidential Center, Barack Obama is turning to a familiar ally: Stephen Colbert.
The sit-down comes just weeks before Colbert is set to exit late-night television after CBS and parent company Paramount canceled "The Late Show." Obama’s decision to sit down with Colbert, an adoring fan of the former president, drew derision from some conservative commentators.
Colbert has long been a Democratic supporter, notably MCing a $26 million fundraiser for former presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton and Obama at Radio City Music Hall in 2024.
The former president has appeared multiple times on Comedy Central’s "The Colbert Report" and "The Late Show." During a 2020 interview, Colbert told Obama he needed to "drink [Obama] in" because he missed seeing a real president. He also once cooed, "I miss you" to a clip of Obama on his show during Trump's first term.
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The announcement of the interview prompted criticism from Outkick writer Ian Miller, who argued Colbert has long traded comedy for partisan activism. "Stephen Colbert going out the way he came in, absolutely refusing to do comedy and putting on the most boring, generic left wing talk show imaginable," he wrote on X.
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Colbert announced the interview during his show on Thursday, saying, "Tuesday, May 5 here on ‘The Late Show’ in his first interview from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, I will be sitting down with former President Barack Obama."
Alongside a clip posted on Instagram, "The Late Show" captioned it "Thanks, @barackobama." The interview was confirmed by the Obama Foundation on Instagram, which wrote, "Couch booked. Volume up. Ready to go."
The Obama Presidential Center is slated to open in June following years of public scrutiny over its design and its impact on the Chicago community. The building sits on Chicago’s South Side, where residents have offered mixed reviews of its aesthetics since construction began in 2021.
A Fox News Digital investigation revealed that surging public infrastructure costs needed to support the project are being funded by the public. The advocacy group Protect Our Parks also spent years in court fighting the project, arguing that the use of Jackson Park was an illegal handover of public space to a private group.
Colbert’s interview with Obama comes only weeks before his show will go off the air on May 21. Paramount canceled "The Late Show" after reports it was losing more than $40 million annually for CBS.
CBS said the cancellation was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night" and denied the show’s content played a role.
In addition to Colbert's left-wing commentary, he books far more political guests than his late-night counterparts. His guests down the stretch of his show have recently included Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Pete Buttigieg and John Kerry.
source https://www.foxnews.com/media/obama-chooses-supporter-stephen-colbert-debut-interview-controversial-presidential-center
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