Stephen Colbert says Fox News-Dominion settlement 'does nothing for our democracy'

Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and more late-night hosts had a field day after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in a settlement reached Tuesday.

Dominion sued Fox News and its parent corporation in 2021 for $1.6 billion, claiming the network knowingly broadcast lies being perpetuated by former President Donald Trump and his attorneys to undercut public confidence in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

On "The Late Show," Colbert voiced disappointment of Fox News averting trial because it was "supposed to provide me six weeks of delicious content."

"I wanted to see Rupert Murdoch put his hand on the Bible and burst into flames," he quipped.

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Colbert continued, telling the audience he had "bad news" because the news network reportedly "will not have to acknowledge on air that it told lies about Dominion in the wake of the 2020 election." That quickly prompted booing from the audience.

"I guess it’s satisfying. I mean, for Dominion, that Rupee had to fork over a pile of cash, but that does nothing for our democracy," the late-night host said. "What we need is Fox News personalities to look straight into the camera, admit that they lied over and over again about the 2020 election, and then hurl themselves into Mount Doom."

Fox News and Dominion reach $787.5M settlement just before defamation trial was set to begin

Jimmy Kimmel unleashed on Fox News and Dominion: 'They're already lying'

Kimmel took a few jabs at Fox News and Dominion for their decision to not further pursue the news network in court.

"No company in America had a worse day than Fox News today," the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host said, jokingly adding, "It’s gonna take a lot of reverse-mortgage ads to pay that one off."

Kimmel went on to poke fun at Fox News' statement that the "settlement reflects Fox's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards."

"They're already lying in their statement about lying," the host quipped. "It's shameless."

Kimmel then turned his attention to Dominion. "We naively thought this was about making Fox News take responsibility for destroying their reputation because that’s what they told us it was about," he said. "But no, they took the money instead — which means the liars who knowingly misled their oatmeal-brained viewers and seriously damaged our democracy don’t have to say anything about it at all … while Dominion and their lawyers go shopping for yachts."

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'The Daily Show' guest host Jordan Klepper jokes about Fox News' cost-cutting measures

Like the other late-night comedians, "The Daily Show" guest host Jordan Klepper lamented that there would be no trial. "I’m glad there’s some accountability here, but still pretty disappointed we’re not going to get a trial, because all the Fox anchors would have been forced to testify," he said. "It would have been like the 'Seinfeld' finale, but instead of Soup Nazis, it’s just … Nazis."

Klepper joked that the news network was "already strapped for cash" because "Tucker Carlson can only afford one facial expression."

As some cost-cutting measures, "The Daily Show" guest host suggested the network will need to fire Brian Kilmeade’s reading tutor, have Jeanine Pirro "switch to the cheap box of wine," swap Jesse Watters for "tap waters" and "of course, they’re gonna have to put down Sean Hannity."

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Contributing: Meredith Newman and Xerxes Wilson, Delaware News Journal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stephen Colbert, more late-night hosts on Fox News-Dominion settlement