Seth Meyers recaps, annotates President Trump's 'bats—t crazy' press conference
The Late Night staff had a perfectly good "Closer Look" script about GOP attempts to repeal ObamaCare ready by 1 p.m. on Thursday, "and then Donald Trump held what can only be described as a bats—t crazy press conference," Seth Meyers said on Thursday's show, ostentatiously shredding the old script. He first set the scene, noting the chaos that has engulfed the Trump White House — infighting, messy executive orders, legal losses, the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and the revelations that his campaign staff was in contact contact with Russian intelligence.
The difficulties of governing may explain Trump's obvious nostalgia for his campaign days, and in fact he's returning to the trail on Saturday with a campaign-style rally in Florida. But Trump apparently couldn't wait until the weekend to get in front of the cameras. As Trump was giving his 75-minute performance in front of the press, there was a joke going around on Twitter that it was the longest cold open in Saturday Night Live history — so Meyers didn't have to say much, just annotate the video clips.
"Did you hear him? He said he's not ranting and raving," Meyers began, laughing. "But again, what president hasn't had to say 'I'm not ranting and raving'? Who could forget Lincoln's Tirade at Gettysburg or FDR's Fireside Meltdowns?" He paraphrased Trump's winding answer to why he fired Flynn, in Trump voice: "He did something I would have told him to do, so he had to go. Clean out your desk, buddy. Why are you cleaning out your desk?" Meyers wagged his finger over Trump asking a black reporter, April Ryan, if she's friends with the Congressional Black Caucus: "It's racist to assume all black people know each other. You don't know all orange people. 'Hey Donald, could you set up a meeting with Snooki and the Lorax?'" And he imitated Trump again to recap his berating a Jewish reporter, Jake Turx, for asking about anti-Semitism.
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Meyers appeared to have fun recapping Trump's strange dressing-down of the media, but he did note that The Trump Show isn't fun for everyone: "Being a world leader sitting with Trump right now is like being a woman on a date with a guy and then his wife shows up, screaming 'Your kids want to know where you are!'" 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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