RK After Donald Trump mocked Harvard graduates in a late-night jab, Stephen Colbert didn’t just respond… he detonated the studio.
Midnight Mayhem: Colbert’s “1965 SAT Record” Roast Ignites Late-Night Chaos in Trump Takedown
November 18, 2025—It was the kind of late-night lightning strike that turns rivals into legends and studios into war zones. At 11:47 p.m. ET, as *The Late Show with Stephen Colbert* hit its post-election stride, the Ed Sullivan Theater became ground zero for what fans are already dubbing “the most savage, unexpected TV counterpunch of the year.” The spark? President Donald Trump’s midday Mar-a-Lago meltdown, a signature rant beamed live on Truth Social and Fox News, where he eviscerated Harvard graduates amid escalating tensions over the university’s federal funding freeze. “Harvard used to be great—real thinkers, deal-makers,” Trump bellowed to a crowd of aides and donors, his voice echoing off gold-trimmed walls. “Now? I wouldn’t trust them to grade a crossword puzzle! Bunch of overpaid eggheads pushing woke nonsense while real Americans pay the bills.”
The clip, timestamped 2:14 p.m., went nuclear: 8.2 million views in hours, #TrumpVsHarvard trending globally with 1.9 million posts. X users dissected it like a frog in bio class—progressives decried it as “authoritarian bullying” amid Trump’s May executive order slashing Ivy League grants by 40% over “DEI extremism,” while MAGA faithful cheered the “drain the swamp” vibe. Harvard’s response? A terse Crimson statement vowing lawsuits, but the real clapback brewed in Midtown Manhattan. Enter Stephen Colbert, 61 and unbowed by CBS’s recent “fiscal recalibration” whispers, who had been stockpiling ammo since Trump’s June commencement sabotage threats.
Colbert sauntered onstage to a swelling orchestra riff on “Pomp and Circumstance,” his bow tie askew like a rebel flag. The monologue had already skewered Trump’s latest Epstein file deflections—drawing groans for that “Bubba” email bombshell—but the Harvard jab pivoted the room. “Funny he mentions academic excellence,” Colbert said, his trademark grin sharpening to a stiletto. The crowd—400 strong, a sea of blue-check liberals and giggly interns—leaned in, sensing the kill shot. With theatrical flair worthy of a Broadway revival, he whipped out a giant, yellowed folder from behind his desk, labeled in faded Sharpie: “Stephen Colbert’s SAT Record — 1965 Edition.” Gasps morphed into guffaws before the prop even creaked open. “Trump says Harvard grads aren’t impressive? Well, according to this totally real, not-at-all made-up document, I apparently got a perfect score in ‘Common Sense’ and a failing grade in ‘Listening to Nonsense.’”
The studio exploded. Laughter crashed like a wave, bandleader Louis Cato doubling over his keyboard, audience members clutching sides as tears streamed. Colbert, milking the chaos, flipped through page after page of absurd “historic test results,” each more ridiculous than the last. One sheet: “Math: 800—because I can count the number of Trump’s coherent sentences per rally.” Another: “Verbal: 1600—extra credit for surviving future political rants.” A third, scrawled in faux-cursive: “Essay: ‘Why Walls Don’t Work’—graded A+ for irony.” Analysts on set—guests like MSNBC’s Joy Reid, wiping mascara smears—howled, “Stephen, you’re killing us!” The bit clocked four uninterrupted minutes, unscripted per insiders, with Colbert ad-libbing, “And look—1965? That’s when SATs were tough. No multiple choice for ‘Alternative Facts.’”
Back at Mar-a-Lago, sources say Trump was glued to a wall of screens, his 11 p.m. snack of well-done steak interrupted by the feed. “He went off,” one fly-on-the-wall aide whispered to *Politico*, voice hushed like a confessor. “Kept shouting, ‘SATs weren’t even LIKE THAT in 1965!’—demanding someone fact-check the joke in real time. Phones were flying; he called his education secretary at 1 a.m. yelling about ‘Colbert’s hoax transcripts.’” Trump’s Truth Social fury hit at 1:23 a.m.: “Failing Late Night LOSER Colbert fakes old SAT scores to cover for Harvard’s RADICAL LEFT DUMMIES! I got into Wharton—BEST SCHOOL—without his phony props. SAD!” The post, laced with eggplant emojis for extra shade, racked 3.4 million likes but spawned 1.2 million mocking replies: “Trump’s SAT: Perfect in ‘Art of the Steal’?” one viral quip read.
Social media? A bonfire. #ColbertSAT1965 rocketed to No. 1 worldwide, 4.8 million posts by dawn, clips remixed over Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (“Is this the real life? Or just 1965 fantasy?”). Harvard alums piled on—AOC, a Boston U. grad but Squad solidarity strong, tweeted: “Stephen just graded Trump’s entire presidency. Failing in EVERYTHING. #SATsForAll.” Zohran Mamdani, NYC’s mayor-elect, live-tweeted from a victory party: “Colbert dropping receipts harder than Trump’s poll numbers. Queens salutes!” Even across the aisle, Ben Shapiro grudgingly chuckled on his podcast: “Savage, but if we’re fact-checking—SATs started in 1926. Colbert wins the bit.” Ratings? *The Late Show* spiked to 5.6 million viewers, its highest since the July shutdown roast, edging Kimmel’s Truth News premiere.
The drama ties into a deeper feud: Trump’s April funding squeeze on Harvard—$2.5 billion yanked over “anti-American curricula”—has the Ivy as a resistance symbol, with commencement protests drawing 5,000 in May. Colbert’s prop? A nod to 2019’s transcript wars, where he and Kimmel mocked Trump’s buried Wharton scores amid Cohen’s testimony. Insiders say the “1965” anachronism—SATs were around since ’26—was deliberate absurdity, a time-warp troll on Trump’s “fake news” cries.
By morning, the chaos lingered: Harvard’s admissions office joked on LinkedIn about “accepting Colbert’s scores—bonus for satire.” Trump, nursing the slight, teased a “real records” rally in Philly. But in late-night’s coliseum, Colbert’s counterpunch reigned. As he signed off—”Tune in tomorrow for my Nobel in Not Taking Bait”—the studio’s roar said it all: in the Trump era’s endless cage match, sometimes the best swing is a folder of folly. Harvard grads? Still grading A’s. Trump’s rant? An F in foresight.
