If ever there was a political event that deserved “A Closer Look” by Seth Meyers, it was Thursday’s “batshit crazy” press conference from President Donald Trump “full of false claims, grievances, and attacks on the media.”
After literally shredding the script that Trump rendered “completely meaningless” with his afternoon presser, Meyers launched into his examination of the president’s deft ability to avoid answering questions about his campaign’s ties to Russia. For instance, in his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump simply “drifted away.”
“This may come as a surprise to Donald Trump, but it turns out the demands of actually governing are a lot more strenuous than the free-for-all atmosphere of campaigning,” Meyers said, which might explain why the president continues to “relive the glory days” every chance he gets.
Trump is “so desperate” for the adoration of screaming crowds, the host added, that this weekend he’s holding a campaign-style rally in Melbourne, Florida, to kick off his 2020 re-election bid. “No!” Meyers shouted at Trump. “We are not ready for another campaign. People from the last campaign are still wandering around in the woods.”
Meyers’s montage of clips from Trump’s first solo press conference as president culminated in his insistence that he was not “ranting and raving” at the media. “What president has not had to say, ‘I’m not ranting and raving?’” Meyers said, recalling Lincoln’s “tirade at Gettysburg” and FDR’s “fireside meltdowns.”
In Meyers’s estimation, Trump spent his entire press conference “whining about perceived grievances and slights and pushing false claims with zero basis in reality.” At one point Trump said everyone would say “that’s so great” if he torpedoed a Russian ship. “Nobody would say that,” Meyers said. “The only way everyone’s going to say ‘That’s so great’ is if the Russian hooker tape is on Netflix this weekend.”
Perhaps most bizarre of all was the “pretty racist” interaction Trump had with American Urban Radio Networks’ D.C. bureau chief April Ryan. “It’s racist to assume all black people know each other,” Meyers said. “You don’t know all orange people,” he added, asking Trump to set up a meeting for him with Snooki and The Lorax.