Late-night host Stephen Colbert said Wednesday night that ABC News’ settlement with President-elect Donald Trump was “stupid” after he criticized the president-elect’s decision to sue former Iowa police officer Ann Selzer.

“Why is this stupid stupid thing happening? I guess because of the stupid, stupid thing ABC did. “Look, this weekend ABC News agreed to pay $15 million and apologize to settle a defamation lawsuit,” Colbert said.

ABC News agreed to make a $15 million charitable donation to a Trump presidential foundation and apologize to the president-elect.

“If the president thinks he can force the media never to say anything bad about him, then what else is going on?” Colbert said, changing the subject.

Late-night host Stephen Colbert hit out at ABC News on Wednesday over its deal with Donald Trump. (Screenshot/CBS)

Iowa pollster Ann Selzer suspects her data may have swayed Republican voters to prove otherwise

Shortly after settling with ABC News, Trump also sued Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register over the Iowa poll that showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump by three points in a historically red state.

“So now it’s meddling just to make a wrong prediction? Well, in that case, Punxatawney Phil, you better become a lawyer, Buttercup, if you ever want to see your shadow again,” Colbert joked about the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed Monday evening in Polk County, Iowa, under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and related provisions. It says it demands “accountability for the brazen election interference perpetrated by the Des Moines Register (DMR) and Selzer on behalf of now-defeated former Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, using a leaked and manipulated Des Moines Register.” /Mediacom Iowa Survey conducted by Selzer and S&C and published by DMR and Gannett in the Des Moines Register on November 2, 2024.”

In the end, Trump beat Harris in Iowa by 13 percentage points. Selzer’s poll was hyped by the media before the election because her poll predictions were historically accurate in previous elections.

President-elect Donald Trump is suing Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register over the Iowa poll that showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump by three points in a historically red state. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Selzer responded to criticism of her and the poll in a recent interview, but acknowledged that she still didn’t know where she went wrong.

“I’m not here to spread any news. If you were hoping I knew exactly why something went wrong, I didn’t. It kind of wakes me up in the middle of the night and I think maybe I should do that too.” Check this out, that would be very strange if it happened. But we examined everything, in an unprecedented move for transparency, our crosstabs, our queuing system and my analysis that I didn’t need to update because it was pretty complete. “Yeah, I wish I knew.”

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Selzer continued: “I’m not sure what motivation anyone had for me and would act on such a public poll. So this is a crime. The idea that I consciously conceived to give this answer, even though I have never done it before, I have had many opportunities to do so, is not my ethics.”