Stephen Colbert offered a finger and some salty language in response to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cutting $500 million in vaccine contracts.
On Thursday's The Late Show, Colbert railed against a number of officials from President Donald Trump's administration, but took particular issue with Kennedy, who announced this week that 22 projects related to developing vaccines using mRNA technology to fight respiratory viruses will be halted.
"To replace the troubled mRNA programs, we're prioritizing the development of safer, broader vaccine strategies, like whole-virus vaccines and novel platforms that don't collapse when viruses mutate," Kennedy said.
Colbert noted on Wednesday that his show is coming to a close soon and he wanted to provide a "measured, non-partisan" response to Kennedy.
"Fuck you, you roid-addled nepo carnie!" Colbert then said, throwing his middle finger up at the camera, the crowd bursting into cheers.
The comedian compared halting the projects to not using a GPS.
"Bobby Jr. is nixing 22 projects that use mRNA technology. But that's the latest vaccine technology. That's like saying, kids, I'm turning off the GPS. We're going to make our way to Six Flags by using the stars," he said.
Colbert has used his show as a platform to promote vaccines in the past, getting pushback from vaccine critics by putting on a song and dance number to promote the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.
Colbert tore into Kennedy with more personal insults on his show, warning him he's going to "kill" people with his decision.
"Fuck you, you roadkill munching, red-eyed, human Slim Jim. You're going to kill people. Why would you say that mRNA vaccines don't perform well against upper respiratory infections? The National Institutes of Health said they prevented an estimated 14.4 million deaths. Why on Earth is RFK Jr. so anxious to fill our streets with dead bodies?" he said.