CBS’s Stephen Colbert had an unconvincing rebuttal on Wednesday to President Trump’s recent Truth Social posts that portrayed Chicago as a crime-ridden and dangerous city. Colbert’s three-part response involved telling Trump “[bleep] you,” repeating some false statistics, and saying Chicago can’t be that bad because The Late Show traveled there in the summer of 2024 and came back alive.
Breaking out his Trump voice, Colbert ranted, “Yesterday, Trump also posted, ‘Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the world, by far.’ Worst and most dangerous? Two words: [Bleep] you. You know what? You know what?... Trump slandered on, ‘Chicago is the murder capital of the world!’"
Colbert then sought to do some fact-checking, “Fun fact: No. According to the FBI, 22 major cities have higher rates of murder than Chicago.”
Fun fact: no. Colbert was citing a Newsweek article headlined “Full List of Major Cities With Higher Murder Rates Than Chicago.” However, the list Newsweek provided was “of cities with more than 100,000 residents that have higher crime rates than Chicago, per the FBI report.”
In other words, Trump was talking about murder rates, and Newsweek, despite its headline and article, was talking about crime in general. When it comes to murder rates, Chicago, according to Newsweek itself, is a top 10 city. On a per capita basis, it was ranked 8th last year.
Nevertheless, Colbert seemed to think that if The Late Show could take a field trip to the Democratic National Convention, then Chicago must not be all that bad, “This is a scary time for the people of Chicago. And I love the people of Chicago. I used to be a people of Chicago. In fact, I lived there 11 years—I lived there seven years. Started my career there. In fact, we took our show to Chicago last summer, had an amazing time, but come to think of it, you know what, a lot of us did come home murdered. That's on me.”
The main context for Trump’s post was that over the weekend 58 people were shot in Chicago, including eight fatally. Whatever one thinks about using the National Guard outside of D.C., it seems like Colbert’s ire should be directed towards Chicago’s city government.
Here is a transcript for the September 3 show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
9/3/2025
11:38 PM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: Yesterday, Trump also posted, [Trump voice] “Chicago is the worst and most dangerous city in the world, by far." Worst and most dangerous? Two words: [Bleep] you. You know what? You know what?
Two other words: Daytona Beach. Trump slandered on, [Trump voice] "Chicago is the murder capital of the world!"
Fun fact: No. According to the FBI, 22 major cities have higher rates of murder than Chicago. One of them being Birmingham, Alabama. Explains their highway signs: Welcome to Birming... Aaaaggh!
The guy was murdered in the middle of painting the sign and decided to put the “aaaagh” in the middle of the sign. That’s dedication to a job. This is a scary time for the people of Chicago. And I love the people of Chicago. I used to be a people of Chicago. In fact, I lived there 11 years—I lived there seven years. Started my career there. In fact, we took our show to Chicago last summer, had an amazing time, but come to think of it, you know what, a lot of us did come home murdered. That's on me.