CBS’s Stephen Colbert welcomed actress Jane Fonda to Wednesday’s taping of The Late Show to do what one does on that show: go after President Trump and ICE in the most hysterical way possible. Fonda would rile up the audience by declaring, “They’re shooting people,” while Colbert would discover that maybe the Soviet Union wasn’t so great and compare Trump to the former communist country.
Before Fonda joined, Colbert declared in his monologue that “This weekend, temperatures in Minneapolis are expected to plunge to around zero degrees, which could hinder the Trump administration's continuing immigration crackdown… I mean this with respect: I hope their dongs freeze and snap off. Like a graham cracker.”
Given the cold weather, Stephen Colbert claims "I mean this with respect: I hope their [ICE] dongs freeze and snap off. Like a graham cracker. Later, Jane Fonda wails "They are kidnapping people. They are illegally deporting American citizens...they shot Ms. Good, they’re… pic.twitter.com/H2i8pGeBEU
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 22, 2026
Later, Colbert wondered to Fonda, “Okay, so, that's a lovely idea. The Committee for the First Amendment. For people who are not in the entertainment industry who don't use their voices in this particular way, what should people do? What are other ways for people to fight for their First Amendment rights? Because all rights, if they can be taken away, are not rights. They were privileges that were just given by a government that doesn't get its power from the consent of the governed. That's not –”
Fonda interrupted and espoused the usual liberal idea that democracy is when liberals win, “We pay their salaries. We should be in charge. If the government is not meeting the needs of its people, there's something wrong, right?”
She then rattled off several claims that should have warranted a fact-check, “This isn't like it was in the 40s and 50s. This is—authoritarianism has made its way into every single nook and cranny of our government. They are kidnapping people. They are illegally deporting American citizens.”
After Colbert added, “Going into American citizens’ homes without a warrant,” Fonda continued, “Minneapolis, where they shot Ms. Good, they’re shooting people. They are blinding people. All kinds of really, really bad things are happening, and it's not a question of right or left. I don't care what party you belong to. It's a question of right or wrong. Right?”
There have been some instances where non-citizens who have been deported have chosen to take their citizen children with them, but it is not as if ICE is rounding up American citizens and deporting them to unknown lands. And of course, “they’re shooting people” and “blinding people” is a gross oversimplification of what happened with Good and the response to that shooting. As for Colbert's warrant claim, it must be noted that DHS was referring to judicial warrants. They still need an administrative warrant to enter someone's home if that person has been issued deportation orders.
Hanoi Jane then claimed that this isn’t what people have fought and died for, “We are the land of the brave. Our loved ones fought, and many died for these freedoms. We can't allow them to be taken away from us because if we let them go they won't be there later when we need them back. So, this is what we have to do, we have to not be alone. We have to work with other people in solidarity. We have to build community.”
During the interview’s second segment, Colbert asserted, “It’s for everyone, as well. Okay. Here’s the thing: there’s a creeping-ness to authoritarianism that people think, “Well, that can't possibly happen here. That can't possibly happen to me” and therefore they take their rights for granted. You've been all over the world. You've been places where the First Amendment right—”
Later, Hanoi Jane warns "I spent months in the Soviet Union when it was the Soviet Union. I actually made a movie there...You try to look at television, it's so boring. Everything is gray. Nobody can express themselves fully. I saw them bulldozing an impressionistic art exhibit… pic.twitter.com/MxUAyCjFwS
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 22, 2026
Fonda recalled, “I spent months in the Soviet Union when it was the Soviet Union. I actually made a movie there: me and Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner, nobody saw it. It was a terrible movie. But we spent a long time there. You do not want to live in that kind of community. You don't want to live in that kind of state-run society. You try to look at television, it's so boring. Everything is gray. Nobody can express themselves fully. I saw them bulldozing an impressionistic art exhibit because they didn't allow impressionism. They determined what art we're going to see, what shows we're going to see. I mean, you know—”
A sarcastic Colbert then quipped, “It would be like our president taking over, like, the Kennedy Center. That would be crazy. That would be crazy.”
No, it would not be like that at all because despite all the freak-outs from people like Fonda, she can still go on The Late Show and promote her new movie without Trump’s approval.
Here is a transcript for the January 21 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
1/21/2026
11:37 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: This weekend, temperatures in Minneapolis are expected to plunge to around zero degrees, which could hinder the Trump administration's continuing immigration crackdown. I get it. I get it. I understand the feeling. I understand the feeling, everybody. I understand those ICE agents are doing terrible things up there, but they are human beings, so hopefully, and I mean this with respect. No, come on, we can’t be like that. I mean this with respect: I hope their dongs freeze and snap off. Like a graham cracker.
…
COLBERT: Okay, so, that's a lovely idea. The Committee for the First Amendment. For people who are not in the entertainment industry who don't use their voices in this particular way, what should people do? What are other ways for people to fight for their First Amendment rights? Because all rights, if they can be taken away, are not rights. They were privileges that were just given by a government that doesn't get its power from the consent of the governed. That's not –
JANE FONDA: We pay their salaries.
COLBERT: Yes.
FONDA: We should be in charge. If the government is not meeting the needs of its people, there's something wrong, right?
COLBERT: Right.
FONDA: This—we're seeing things happen that have never happened before. This isn't like it was in the 40s and 50s. This is—authoritarianism has made its way into every single nook and cranny of our government. They are kidnapping people. They are illegally deporting American citizens.
COLBERT: Going into American citizens’ homes without a warrant.
FONDA: Minneapolis, where they shot Ms. Good, they’re shooting people. They are blinding people. All kinds of really, really bad things are happening, and it's not a question of right or left. I don't care what party you belong to. It's a question of right or wrong. Right?
And I think lines are being crossed. And it's enough. We've had enough. Right? We are the land of the brave. Our loved ones fought, and many died for these freedoms. We can't allow them to be taken away from us because if we let them go they won't be there later when we need them back. So, this is what we have to do, we have to not be alone. We have to work with other people in solidarity. We have to build community. Indivisible is a wonderful organization and it has chapters all over the country. So join indivisible. You have churches.
You have churches. You have garden clubs. Whatever groups that you are part of, help them get organized. Help them learn and advance what to do when they come for you. And they will, believe me. Unless we stop this.
…
COLBERT: One of the things you said just now was that while minority communities have actually known oppression in many ways that those of us in the white community don't understand, this is for everybody in the United States now.
FONDA: Yes.
COLBERT: People are, sort of, being shocked. Even people who supported the president are being shocked, “Wait a second, I thought it was for other people, not me.”
FONDA: Oh, this is hurting people who voted for President Trump.
COLBERT: It’s for everyone, as well. Okay. Here’s the thing: there’s a creeping-ness to authoritarianism that people think, “Well, that can't possibly happen here. That can't possibly happen to me” and therefore they take their rights for granted. You've been all over the world. You've been places where the First Amendment right—
FONDA: That's why I am fighting so hard.
COLBERT: Okay, so where have you been—
FONDA: I spent months in the Soviet Union when it was the Soviet Union. I actually made a movie there: me and Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner, nobody saw it. It was a terrible movie. But we spent a long time there. You do not want to live in that kind of community. You don't want to live in that kind of state-run society. You try to look at television, it's so boring. Everything is gray. Nobody can express themselves fully. I saw them bulldozing an impressionistic art exhibit because they didn't allow impressionism. They determined what art we're going to see, what shows we're going to see. I mean, you know—
COLBERT: It would be like our president taking over, like, the Kennedy Center. That would be crazy. That would be crazy.
