Rachel Maddow and Stephen Colbert joined forces Tuesday night on The Late Show to peddle the latest left-wing conspiracy theory—that Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, want to abolish elections and seize permanent power. Despite offering no evidence, both hosts ramped up the rhetoric, accusing the GOP of plotting an authoritarian takeover.

Colbert teed it up with his signature smug delivery, claiming that Republican lawmakers’ supposed “incompetence” and disregard for programs like Social Security and Medicare must mean they don’t expect to be held accountable by voters. He then speculated they might not even be planning for an election at all.

“That worries me,” Colbert said. “Maybe they don’t think they have to worry about an election because maybe they don’t have to worry about an election at all.”

Rather than question the logic, Maddow took the baton and sprinted toward full-blown hysteria. “Trump doesn’t think there should be elections,” she said flatly, without citing a single quote or source. She then claimed that Republicans are “consolidating power,” “disempowering Congress,” and “defying court orders”—all supposedly signs that they want a lifetime grip on the presidency.

“That’s authoritarianism,” she declared, “and that’s what you do when you don’t ever want to have an election because you want to stay in power for life.”

Ironically, Trump has publicly stated that he’s not seeking a third term and intends to leave office at the end of his current term. “Four years is plenty of time,” he said last week when asked about rumors of extending his presidency. Those aren’t the words of a man engineering a dictatorship.

If anyone has abused executive power, history offers a long list of Democrat examples. Franklin Roosevelt ran for four terms. Barack Obama boasted of using “a pen and a phone” to bypass Congress, racking up 305 executive orders in eight years. Joe Biden, who campaigned as a moderate, issued 167 executive orders during his four-year term—many targeting Congress’s constitutional authority.

Yet Maddow and Colbert reserved their outrage for Trump, framing his administration’s commitment to federal reform, deregulation, and agency streamlining as sinister attempts to dismantle democracy itself.

Even the claim that Republicans are “ignoring Congress” rings hollow when compared to Biden’s student loan executive actions, vaccine mandates, and border policies—all carried out without congressional approval.

As for “defying court orders,” many of the legal battles currently playing out involve Trump appealing activist judicial rulings that seek to block his policy agenda. Challenging a court’s decision through legal channels is not defiance—it’s due process.

It’s also worth noting that the Biden administration routinely ignored or circumvented court rulings on everything from mask mandates to deportation orders.

The real motive behind Maddow and Colbert’s meltdown is likely rooted in fear. After watching Trump win the White House for a second time, and seeing Democrats flailing in the polls with no clear 2028 frontrunner, left-wing media figures are scrambling for a narrative to rile up their base. Accusations of dictatorship make for flashy headlines—even if they’re fiction.

In the end, this segment wasn’t about defending democracy. It was about protecting their own fading influence by keeping viewers angry and afraid.

Rather than deal with their party’s failures, Maddow and Colbert chose the easier path: conspiracy, hyperbole, and performative outrage. For millions of Americans, it’s just more proof that the real threat to civil discourse comes from the echo chamber of the left-wing media—not the Oval Office.