Seth Meyers has some thoughts on Hillary's health, 'basket of deplorables'
Hillary Clinton is taking a few days off the campaign trail to fight a bout of pneumonia, Seth Meyers noted on Tuesday's Late Night. "Of course, the first instinct for anyone, whether you support her or not, should be to hope she recovers quickly," he said, "and if you work at Fox News, your second instinct is to start speculating about whether she'll drop out of the race."
After chuckling over the giddy Fox News speculation, and the movie Dave, Meyers got down to brass tacks. "Look, reporting on a presidential candidate's health is totally legitimate, and Hillary should have disclosed her diagnosis immediately," he said, "but in this case her health is getting way more attention because Trump supporters have already spent weeks spreading baseless conspiracy theories implying she has a secret illness. And now, thanks to those months of innuendo, the internet rumor mill about Hillary's health is in full swing." That whole body-double rumor was undermined by all the cat GIFs, he said.
Meyers spent the rest of the segment on Clinton's line about half of Donald Trump's supporters belonging in a "basket of deplorables," and Trump's umbrage over that remark, including his calls for her to apologize or drop out. "If you had to drop out every time you insulted millions of people and refused to apologize, your campaign announcement speech would have sounded like this," he said to Trump, introducing a mash-up that ended with Trump quitting the race. "Was Hillary making a lazy, sweeping generalization? Yes she was," Meyers said. "But was there a core truth to what she said that we all need to grapple with? Yes, because you can't deny Trump's candidacy has attracted support from white nationalists and their followers." Watch the full closer look 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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