On Wednesday, the late night comedians received their government shutdown-related marching orders. To listen to them is no different than any generic Democratic member of Congress who portrays the shutdown as a showdown between Democrats, who want people to have healthcare, and Republicans, who do not.
On CBS, The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert asked and answered his own question, “So, how did we get to this shutdown? Well, the main sticking point is healthcare. Democrats want people to have it. And they say they will never back down.”
Over at ABC, Jimmy Kimmel’s audience appeared to not know what they were supposed to do. As Kimmel began, there was a confused mix of booing and cheering, “Well, I have some bad news: our government is now officially shut down because we don't have funding to pay the federal workers. Trump really is running the country like it's one of his businesses.”
Kimmel added that “Republicans would like you to believe that Democrats shut the government down. But the bill they wanted Democrats to sign would knock out about 15 million Americans from health insurance. If this bill passes, your health insurance premiums could go up 75 percent, so there was no way the Democrats could vote for it. It's like—it's like going to dinner and the waiter says, ‘You must order lasagna. The chef made it today. And a bunch of you are going to get food poisoning from it, but if you don't eat it, you've ruined the meal.’ That's the Garfield version of what's going on right now.
First, “your” only refers to people on the Obamacare exchanges. Second, these expanded subsidies were a Biden-era program that was meant to be a temporary COVID relief measure that Democrats now want to make permanent because the pandemic, apparently, never ends.
Back at Comedy Central, The Daily Show host-of-the-week Ronny Chieng declared, “Wait, this is all because of healthcare? But I thought that hot guy murdering that CEO solved all of this. Look, this is the classic dispute between the parties. Democrats say that the government should help pay for healthcare, and Republicans say, ‘That's what GoFundMe is for.’"
Finally, NBC’s Seth Meyers took a slightly different angle on Late Night, “Now, this specific shutdown fight is, in part, over healthcare. Democrats say they want to renew subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans are claiming Democrats want to give healthcare to undocumented immigrants, which fact-checkers have repeatedly clarified is not true.”
Meyers’s idea of a fact-checker was ABC’s co-anchor of Good Morning America and former Clinton hack, George Stephanopoulos.
After playing a clip of Stephanopoulos angrily trying to rebut Speaker Mike Johnson, Meyers resumed, “It's not great when anchors have to read fact-checks that are so long they start to sound like the list of side effects at the end of a drug commercial, ‘Here are the facts. The proposal does not provide healthcare for illegal immigrants. It does not turn the military woke and make everyone trans. It does not ban plastic straws. It does not make the green M&M a pothead. It does not require all 300 million Americans to watch Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. If you so choose, you're free to watch the Puppy Bowl, although, this is important, the performer at the Puppy Bowl will be an actual bad bunny.’"
Counter fact-check: The Democratic proposal does muddy the waters on who is eligible for Medicaid coverage and makes it easy for blue states to decide to expand coverage to illegal immigrants.
Here are transcripts for the October 1-taped shows:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
10/1/2025
11:41 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: So, how did we get to this shutdown? Well, the main sticking point is healthcare. Democrats want people to have it. And they say they will never back down. Democrats say they will never back down, as Senator Bernie Sanders explained.
KAITLAN COLLINS: Are you telling me you're willing to vote no every time every Leader Thune brings this up?
BERNIE SANDERS: Damn right. I am not going to allow. Let me be clear. All right, we can both be honest. You can quote me on this, as we say in Vermont, ‘til the cows come home.
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
10/1/2025
11:39 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, I have some bad news: our government is now officially shut down because we don't have funding to pay the federal workers. Trump really is running the country like it's one of his businesses. He said he would. Just to give you some perspective, the government being shut down is even worse than when it's up and running. Republicans would like you to believe that Democrats shut the government down. But the bill they wanted Democrats to sign would knock out about 15 million Americans from health insurance. If this bill passes, your health insurance premiums could go up 75 percent, so there was no way the Democrats could vote for it. It's like — it's like going to dinner and the waiter says, “You must order lasagna. The chef made it today. And a bunch of you are going to get food poisoning from it, but if you don't eat it, you've ruined the meal.” That's the Garfield version of what’s going on right now.
***
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
10/2/2025
12:47 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: Now, this specific shutdown fight is, in part, over healthcare. Democrats say they want to renew subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans are claiming Democrats want to give healthcare to undocumented immigrants, which fact-checkers have repeatedly clarified is not true.
MIKE JOHNSON: Forty-four Senate Democrats voted to reject a clean, non-partisan continuing funding resolution to keep the United States government open. The Democrats said, instead, that they wanted to give healthcare to illegal aliens.
[jump cut]
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Here are the facts. The proposal does not provide healthcare for illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants cannot buy healthcare under the Affordable Care Act.
JOHNSON: Not true. Not true, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: They cannot receive healthcare subsidies.
JOHNSON: No.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Illegal immigrants are ineligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Program. The Democratic bill does not make them eligible
MEYERS: It's not great when anchors have to read fact-checks that are so long they start to sound like the list of side effects at the end of a drug commercial, "Here are the facts. The proposal does not provide healthcare for illegal immigrants. It does not turn the military woke and make everyone trans. It does not ban plastic straws. It does not make the green M&M a pothead. It does not require all 300 million Americans to watch Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. If you so choose, you're free to watch the Puppy Bowl, although, this is important, the performer at the Puppy Bowl will be an actual bad bunny."
***
Comedy Central The Daily Show
10/1/2025
11:01 PM ET
RONNY CHIENG: Wait, this is all because of healthcare? But I thought that hot guy murdering that CEO solved all of this. Look, this is the classic dispute between the parties. Democrats say that the government should help pay for healthcare, and Republicans say, "That's what GoFundMe is for."
