Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Trevor Noah rip apart Trump's 'she's not my type' rape defense

Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and Trevor Noah

(Image credit: Screenshots/YouTube/The Daily Show, The Late Show, Late Night)

published 26 June 2019

"Over the weekend, columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her 23 years ago," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show, "and yesterday, Trump gave a very, very bad reason why he's innocent, telling a reporter: 'I'll say it with great respect: No. 1, she's not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, okay?'"

"So it didn't happen because she's not his type," Colbert said. "That is the sound of a man realizing mid-sentence that he's not talking to Billy Bush."

"If someone asks you, 'Did you rape that woman?' and you say, 'No, she's not my type,' that's not a defense, it's a confession," Seth Meyers said at Late Night. "And hey, no one believes you when you deny this stuff because you already admitted to it, remember? You were on a bus with Billy Bush, bragging about assaulting women." Also, "I know you think everything's a conspiracy," he said, but "the media isn't trying to screw you because, to borrow a phrase, you're not their type."

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The Daily Show's Trevor Noah also found Trump's response sorely lacking. "If your denial leaves people thinking there is a type of woman you would rape, that's not a good denial," he said. "And I don't understand how we're still struggling with this in society: A woman's attractiveness has nothing to do with whether or not they were raped. Nothing at all. But it shows you how out-of-whack Trump's priorities are. He's being accused of rape and his first concern is letting people know what his standards are for women. It's like you're accused of murdering someone at a Holiday Inn and your response is, 'I stay at the Ritz Carlton, no!'"

"Do you ever think about how many men were held accountable after facing a single credible accusation?" Noah asked. Trump's "got 22, and it's barely news." Watch him ponder how the guy whose election mainstreamed #MeToo is somehow immune to it. 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.