Seth Meyers: When it comes to climate change, Earth is the 'Donald Trump of planets'
The logic-defying presidential election is taking everyone's attention away from a very important topic — climate change — and while it's not as exciting as the medical records of a 70-year-old or the sexts of a disgraced former congressman, Seth Meyers wants us to start giving the matter the attention it deserves.
On Tuesday's Late Night, Meyers said the Earth is "acting insane," but we're all "too busy focusing on Donald Trump to notice. Meanwhile, the Earth is currently the Donald Trump of planets, and it even uses Trump's skin tone to illustrate extreme heat." Over the summer, for the first time on record, every square inch of the United States experienced above average temperatures. If that weren't bad enough, there have been eight "once in 500 years" extreme weather events since the beginning of the year. "Not to mention on top of that, the f—ing Chicago Cubs are in first place, so who knows what's going on," Meyers said.
Meyers argues that the main reason climate change is being ignored is because the GOP "essentially constructed an alternate reality in which none of these extreme weather events has anything to do with climate change." Recalling a Trump lawyer's use of the term, "Says who?" Meyers said, "'Says who?' is basically the Republican Party's official position on climate change, and this anti-intellectualism is at the core of the modern GOP and goes all the way to the presidential ticket." Cue a long clip of Trump preaching about his favorite kind of hairspray to coal miners, and an interview that Meyers says proves Trump has "no idea what he's talking about." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years
Speed Read The former New Jersey senator was convicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last year
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Passenger jet, Blackhawk helicopter collide in DC
Speed Read An American Airlines flight with 64 people aboard collided with an Army helicopter, and no survivors have been found
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
White House withdraws Trump's spending freeze
Speed Read President Donald Trump's budget office has rescinded a directive that froze trillions of dollars in federal aid and sowed bipartisan chaos
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Rain helps Los Angeles wildfires, risks mudslides
Speed Read The weather provided relief for crews working to contain wildfires, though rain over a burn area ups the chances of flooding and mudslides
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Death toll rises in LA fires as wind lull allows progress
Speed Read At least 24 people have died and 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden cancels Italy trip as raging LA fires spread
Speed Read The majority of the fires remain 0% contained
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Fast-spreading Los Angeles wildfires spark panic
Speed Read About 30,000 people were under an evacuation order as the inferno spread
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hundreds feared dead in French Mayotte cyclone
Speed Read Cyclone Chido slammed into Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Thirteen missing after Red Sea tourist boat sinks
Speed Read The vessel sank near the Egyptian coastal town of Marsa Alam
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Global plastics summit starts as COP29 ends
Speed Read Negotiators gathering in South Korea seek an end to the world's plastic pollution crisis, though Trump's election may muddle the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden visits Amazon, says climate legacy irreversible
Speed Read Nobody can reverse America's 'clean energy revolution,' said the president, despite the incoming Trump administration's promises to dismantle climate policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published