Seth Meyers mocks Republicans who would rather hide in elevators than criticize Trump

On Wednesday's Late Night, Seth Meyers took to task Republican leaders who are insisting that President Trump's "latest racist comments are not at all racist, despite the fact the they are definitely super racist."

As everyone knows by now, on Sunday Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen of color should "go back" to their "crime infested" home countries. Three of the women were born in the United States, and the fourth arrived as a refugee from Somalia and is now a naturalized citizen. "If their country is broken and crime infested, that's on you," Meyers said. "Trump accidentally burned himself. It's like if someone said, 'Man your parents must have really screwed you up,' and that someone was your mom."

Since posting the tweets, Trump has defended himself multiple times by accusing the women of saying "horrible things" and saying over and over again that anyone who isn't happy in the United States should leave. "Trump's brain disease won't let him backtrack, no matter how far over the line he goes," Meyers said. "If he says, 'I'm going to eat this apple,' and you said, 'Dude, that's an onion,' he would stand there and eat the whole thing with tears streaming down his face."

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Most of Meyers' ire went beyond Trump to Republican lawmakers who are bending over backwards not to comment on the situation, and he played a montage of some senators who fled to elevators to avoid having to speak to reporters. He also singled out Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who was a congressman during the Obama administration. In the new book American Carnage, author Tim Alberta writes that in 2016, Mulvaney said Republicans would not let "Donald Trump dismantle the Bill of Rights," and bristled at the idea that their constant pushback against Obama was racist, saying they would treat a president of their own party the same way. That's just not true, Meyers said, as Republicans "are literally hiding in elevators to avoid criticizing Trump." Watch the video below. Catherine Garcia