Seth Meyers recaps Obama's Cuba trip with Back to the Future, Urban Outfitter jokes
President Obama has wrapped up his historic visit to Cuba, and Seth Meyers took a closer look on Late Night. The trip had its high points and low points but the big thing that stood out were the contrasts, Meyers said, illustrating the point with a picture of Air Force One flying over antique cars. "It looks like it's traveling back in time," he said, showing off his crew's photoshopping skills: "That's Air Force One as piloted by Doc Brown."
There were some uncomfortable moments for Obama, like his "most awkward handshake in presidential history" with Cuban leader Raul Castro, Meyers said, and his photograph in front of a mural of revolutionary icon Che Guevara. "Many criticized Obama, as this was seen as an implicit endorsement to Urban Outfitters," Meyers joked, noting more seriously that plenty of Republican presidents also had their photos taken in front of communist figures and then doing his George W. Bush impression (but mostly showing off an impressive familiarity with Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire"). Another awkward moment was when Castro agreed to take questions from reporters and denied that Cuba has political prisoners. "In fact, Cuba does jail political dissidents," Meyers said. "Although even if Castro were for it, Obama should know it's very hard to close a prison in Cuba." He did find at least one concrete good that came out of Obama's trip, though. Watch below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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