Seth Meyers is worried that Jeff Sessions is coming for your legal marijuana


The confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees began on Tuesday, and while the hearing for Homeland Security nominee John Kelly was relatively uneventful, the confirmation hearing for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Trump's nominee for attorney general, was long and unusually spirited, considering that the nominee was being grilled by his colleagues. Seth Meyers took a closer look at the Sessions session on Tuesday's Late Night, before interviewing Trump's senior adviser Kellyanne Conway. He talked about the various racial controversies that have dogged Sessions, but he also pointed out that the Alabama senator is not a big fan of pot.
"As attorney general, Sessions would also be in charge of enforcing the nation's drug laws," Meyers said, "and given that several states, most recently California, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, that puts Sessions in a position to crack down on those states if he so chooses — and again, his previous statements on marijuana have not been promising." He played a clip that illustrated his point, ending with a curious assertion from the prospective attorney general. "Good people do not smoke marijuana?" Meyers said. "Tell that to Willie Nelson!"
But the Sessions hearing would probably have been more contentious if he weren't among friends — including Democratic colleagues who spent a lot of time recently talking about their camaraderie with Sessions in the Senate gym. "Just when you think senators couldn't be more out of touch with everyday Americans, they think it's okay to talk to people in the gym!" Meyers said. He ended with a raised eyebrow at Sessions' assertion that when it comes to the big story of the day, and one in his wheelhouse — the Russian election hacking — he's "done no research on that." "You've done no research?" Meyers said. "Did you forget this was happening today? I've done research on that, and my job is interviewing celebrities in the middle of the night!" Watch below. Peter Weber
The Week
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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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