Seth Meyers explains how the 2016 race has exposed the real Donald Trump

Seth Meyers rips the facade off Donald Trump

(Image credit: Late Night)

last updated 2 November 2016

Donald Trump clearly "underestimated the incredible amount of public scrutiny he'd get as a presidential candidate," Seth Meyers said on Tuesday's Late Night, "and now that scrutiny may be hurting him in the place he cares about most: his wallet." And it's not just Trump's "brand" — though there are signs that's taken a hit, too, Meyers said. It's his character.

"Remember, before he became a presidential candidate, Donald Trump was a blustery New York City businessman known mostly to voters not for the person he was behind closed doors but for the character he played in tabloids and on TV," Meyers said. Well, this long campaign has "unearthed for public view all kinds of deeply unflattering information about Trump's business record, from his six bankruptcies to his loss of nearly $1 billion in 1995," and Monday night, The New York Times reported that Trump avoided paying taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars by using a maneuver "so legally dubious" it was later outlawed by Congress. Trump's excuse has been to blame Hillary Clinton for not banning those tax loopholes Trump jumped through.

"There was also the impression that because Trump was wealthy he must also be smart, but the image of Trump as a genius billionaire has also been undercut during this campaign," Meyers said, "most recently by his own campaign aides, who talk about him the way you talk about a child." And then there's Trump's so-called philanthropy — the latest story about Trump and a school for children with AIDS prompted a Curb Your Enthusiasm joke that did not involve Bernie Sanders. For more details about how "the character Trump played in tabloids and on TV of a generous, intelligent billionaire has been undercut by his presidential campaign," as Meyers puts it, 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.