The internet exploded this week after former President Donald Trump posted a shocking AI-generated video on his social platform, Truth Social, depicting a plane releasing a brown liquid over a crowd of “No Kings” protesters.

Within hours, the clip—clearly computer-generated—had racked up millions of views, sparking outrage, disbelief, and memes that spread faster than the video itself.
The caption Trump wrote beneath it?

“FAKE PROTESTS DESERVE FAKE WEATHER. ENJOY THE SHOW!!! ”

Even for Trump’s standards, this was a new kind of storm.

The AI Stunt That Backfired

Digital forensics experts quickly confirmed the video was entirely synthetic: a generative-AI composite stitched together from stock protest footage and animated graphics. Still, the imagery—what many viewers described as “humiliation porn masquerading as politics”—hit a nerve.

Civil-rights groups condemned the clip as “deeply dehumanizing,” and even some conservative commentators admitted the joke had gone too far.

But one voice cut through the noise louder than all others: Stephen Colbert.

Colbert’s Monologue Erupts

Opening The Late Show Monday night, Colbert began with a calm smile that barely hid the fury beneath.

“Good evening, folks,” he said. “If you thought politics couldn’t sink any lower—congratulations, Donald Trump just invented a new basement.”

The audience erupted in laughter and groans.

Colbert leaned closer to the camera:

“Yes, the former president posted an AI video showing a plane dumping what looks suspiciously like… let’s call it presidential waste… on Americans exercising free speech. Because nothing says ‘Make America Great Again’ like digitally defecating on democracy.”

The laughter turned to applause. But as he continued, the jokes sharpened into moral critique.

“You know what this shows?” Colbert asked. “It shows he has no empathy. None. He’s not wired for it. He’s like an alien observing humans and thinking, ‘What if I humiliate them for fun?’ He doesn’t want to lead; he wants to hurt.”

Then his tone darkened.

“There’s something psychological going on with this man—deep, festering, ugly. He needs to see people suffer, even if it’s just on a screen. And I don’t understand the people around him. How do they live with themselves, knowing they’ve enabled this for years?”

The studio went quiet. You could almost feel the collective exhale.

From Satire to Searing Truth

Colbert’s comments resonated across social platforms. Clips of his monologue spread overnight, trending under hashtags like #ColbertVsTrump and #NoEmpathyPresident.

Many praised the host for saying what others were afraid to. One viral tweet read:

“Colbert didn’t roast Trump tonight—he performed an exorcism.”

Political analysts noted how the late-night comedian has evolved into a kind of moral barometer during the age of political absurdity.

“Colbert’s power lies in turning laughter into conscience,” said media scholar Dr. Elena Patel. “He disarms with humor, then delivers a truth punch so sharp you can’t unhear it.”

Trump’s Response: Caps Lock and Chaos

Predictably, Trump fired back on Truth Social within hours of Colbert’s broadcast. His post, a wall of capital letters and misspellings, read:

“STEPHEN COLD-BEAR (FAKE NAME!) IS JEALOUS. NO ONE WATCHES HIM! MY VIDEO IS FUNNY, EVERYONE LOVES IT!!! JUST A LITTLE AI HUMOR – VERY LEGAL, VERY COOL!!!”

He concluded:

“NO KINGS?? WRONG! TRUMP = KING OF COMEDY!!”

The irony wasn’t lost on anyone. As one commenter wrote, “Nothing says ‘I’m not a king’ like declaring yourself king of the joke you created about being king.’”

The Broader Fallout

Even some Republican strategists distanced themselves from the stunt. “Posting AI propaganda that mocks citizens—it’s indefensible,” said one GOP consultant anonymously. “We used to call that North-Korea-level behavior.”

Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts warned that such misuse of AI imagery could further blur the line between satire and misinformation.

“Deepfakes like this erode trust,” explained Dr. Luis Moreno, an AI ethics researcher. “When a former president amplifies them, it normalizes deception as entertainment. That’s dangerous.”

On college campuses, students staged impromptu “Reality Matters” demonstrations, holding up signs reading ‘We’re not your algorithm’ and ‘Leaders lead; trolls post.’

Colbert Doubles Down

Two nights later, Colbert returned to the subject, this time with a mock “Breaking News” graphic reading: “TRUMP INVESTIGATED FOR WAR CRIMES AGAINST COMMON SENSE.”

He began with a smirk:

“Apparently, Trump says the AI video was just a joke. Great. Maybe next time he can joke about empathy. Oh wait—he doesn’t have any.”

Laughter rolled, then Colbert turned serious again:

“I keep thinking about the people who still defend him. His cabinet, his allies, the ones who pretend this is normal. How do you go home at night, look in the mirror, and say, ‘Yup, I’m okay with this’? Because that’s the real scandal—it’s not just him, it’s everyone who enables the cruelty.”

He paused, letting the audience absorb it.

“This isn’t politics anymore,” he said softly. “It’s pathology.”

Public Reaction: Anger, Humor, and Reflection

Online, reaction split between outrage and exhausted disbelief.

• “Trump using AI to humiliate protesters is peak dystopia,” one user wrote.

• Another added, “Colbert said what we’re all thinking—empathy shouldn’t be optional.”

Others turned to satire themselves. A meme showed aliens hovering over Earth saying, “Take him back? No thanks.”

By Thursday, major outlets were publishing op-eds about the blurred boundary between satire and reality. The Atlantic ran a piece titled “When the Joke Becomes the News.”

A Mirror for the Moment

Media historian Ruth Lander described the controversy as “a cultural Rorschach test.”

“What you see in that AI video tells you what you fear most about our era,” she said. “Some see humor, others see horror—but everyone sees how fragile truth has become.”

Colbert, in later interviews, reflected on why he went so hard on Trump this time:

“It’s not just politics—it’s empathy,” he told a podcast host. “When someone celebrates cruelty, even through a fake video, you can’t let it slide. That’s when laughter stops being enough. You have to call it what it is: moral rot.”

The Aftermath

Within days, Trump’s AI video was flagged by multiple fact-checking organizations as “manipulated content.” Tech platforms debated whether to remove it or label it satire.

The “No Kings” protest organizers announced plans to file a civil complaint, arguing that even AI depictions of violence or degradation can incite real-world harm.

Trump, meanwhile, doubled down, promising “many more beautiful videos to come” and teasing an upcoming “digital series.”

“Because apparently,” Colbert quipped, “humiliating the nation is now a franchise.”

Colbert’s Closing Words

On Friday night, Colbert ended his week of commentary with a monologue that felt less like comedy and more like a sermon:

“This isn’t about politics anymore. It’s about who we are when the lights go off and no one’s watching. Trump’s video didn’t just target protesters—it mocked the idea of caring. That’s why it matters. Because if we lose empathy, we lose the very thing that makes democracy work.”

He looked straight into the camera.

“Empathy is the opposite of cruelty. It’s the strength to feel someone else’s pain and not enjoy it. Trump can post all the AI garbage he wants, but until he learns that—he’ll always be a man at war with his own humanity.”

The audience stood and applauded.

For once, the laughter was gone. What remained was something far rarer: silence mixed with clarity.