![Colbert Says ICE Worse Than Nazis Because at Least Nazis Were 'Willing to Show Their Faces' [WATCH]](https://teamredvictory.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Colbert-Says-ICE-Worse-Than-Nazis-Because-at-Least-Nazis.png)
Late-night host Stephen Colbert drew backlash this week after a remark about Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents that critics argued trivialized history while escalating rhetoric around immigration enforcement.
Colbert played a clip of Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino discussing how federal agents have been labeled by critics, including in a CNN interview where Bovino said people were “trying to portray Border Patrol agents and ICE agents as Gestapo, Nazi and many other words.”
Colbert then responded with a line that triggered immediate reaction online: “Yes, do not compare ICE or Border Patrol agents to the Nazis. That’s an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces.”
The moment was met with audience applause, but critics piled on in the days after, including actor Michael Rapaport, who wrote on X: “What happened in Minnesota is horrible. But comparing ICE to NAZIS is a vile ridiculous cheap joke,” adding: “What’s more offensive, Colbert? Or the crowd laughing?”
Watch the clip below:
What happened in Minnesota is horrible.
But comparing ICE to NAZIS is a vile ridiculous cheap joke.
What’s more offensive Colbert? Or the crowd laughing? pic.twitter.com/3lvzp8w2ov— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) January 29, 2026
More reactions below:
Stephen Colbert: “Don’t compare ICE to Nazis. That’s an unfair comparison. The Nazis were willing to show their faces.”
I just left Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, where I learned that Nazis buried Jewish babies alive by the thousands to avoid wasting bullets. pic.twitter.com/jEPfS5Z6HR
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 28, 2026
Obscene. Ahistorical. Illiterate. https://t.co/cyTowMpEtd
— Sohrab Ahmari (@SohrabAhmari) January 29, 2026
Colbert says Nazis were braver than ICE. Audience laughs.
33% of ICE are US military veterans
pic.twitter.com/BXK5BqXZ1M— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) January 29, 2026
I’m old enough to remember when late night comedians were funny, and all of them knew the difference between the agents who enforce US immigration law and the Nazis who exterminated six million Jews.
Shame on @StephenAtHome for minimizing the Holocaust for a cheap laugh line. https://t.co/HkSX7cn0dr
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) January 29, 2026
