Sen. Kennedy Mocks Obama and Colbert's 'Best Buds' Interview, Jabs at Colbert's Canceled Show

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., criticized Barack Obama and Stephen Colbert after their interview aired Tuesday, suggesting on "The Will Cain Show" that the pair, whom he called "best buds," should get a "motel room." The sit-down took place at Obama's new Presidential Center in Chicago ahead of Colbert's late-night show ending in mid-May.

Obama offered veiled critiques of President Donald Trump, praised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, commented on both political parties and said Colbert would make a better president than Trump.

"It's no news flash that President Obama does not like Republicans. It occurred to me that he might have been pandering to Mr. Colbert and his audience, all seven of them. President Obama has always been better at pandering than persuasion, that was my first thought," Kennedy told Cain.

Kennedy took aim at Colbert's demeanor. "I also got a kick out of Mr. Colbert. He and President Obama are obviously best buds. Maybe they ought to get a motel room or something. They were just fawning all over each other. I don't have anything against Mr. Colbert. I've always thought that he was shallow as a puddle. Now, he doesn't believe that. He thinks he's one of the smartest people on the planet. If you don't take my word for it, ask him. His personal vanity has always been unshakable," he said.

Kennedy highlighted the reason for CBS canceling Colbert's show. "But his problem is not his vanity or his intelligence, it's his numbers. He was losing CBS $40 million a year because nobody was watching. So CBS told him to sit his 50-set a-- down, and they said well, 'You're fired,'" he added.

Colbert's final episode airs May 16. CBS announced in 2025 it would cancel the show at season's end for financial reasons.

Colbert suggested in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that political motives might explain the decision, though no proof exists. "There are many people who believe there was another reason. And, as I said in the most measured tones I could muster, there is a reason why people believe that. The network had clearly already done it once by cutting that $16 million check [to the Trump administration]," he said.

Both Cain and Kennedy reacted with surprise to Obama's praise for Mamdani. "I always thought President Obama was a capitalist. He certainly seems to have an affinity for Mayor Mamdani, and Mayor Mamdani is a socialist. He calls himself a democratic socialist, but that's a socialist that believes in obtaining socialism through the ballot box. So that wouldn't surprise me," Kennedy said.

Obama and Colbert did not immediately return requests for comment.