Seth Meyers says there's no evidence there are any 'adults in the room' at the White House

published 13 September 2018

During times of trouble and strife, the American people look to their president for guidance and reassurance that the government can handle a crisis, but as Hurricane Florence comes barreling toward the Carolinas, they won't be getting any of that from President Trump, Seth Meyers said on Wednesday's Late Night.

On Tuesday, Trump described the hurricane as "tremendously big and tremendously wet," and praised the government's maligned response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year. At least 3,000 people died because of Maria, yet Trump called relief efforts "an unsung success," and even doubled down on Wednesday, tweeting that the government "did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico ... an inaccessible island."

None of that is true, Meyers said, including the part about Puerto Rico being inaccessible ("There's a Jet Blue flight there every half hour," he noted), but it's not surprising that Trump is having a hard time calming people down because he is so freaked out over Bob Woodward's new book, Fear. The book is filled with interviews with people who, while believing Trump is unfit for office, still work for him and claim that they are able to manage him.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

This is an issue, Meyers said, because Trump is "the president. You shouldn't have to control him. You're talking about him like he just escaped from Skull Island. 'He's about to tweet something, quick, shoot him with a tranquilizer dart.'" If there's any lesson in all of this, it's that "there are no adults in the room, and even if there were, there's nothing they could do," Meyers said. "The problem begins and ends with Trump and the Republicans supporting him." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia

Explore More

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.