Late night hosts suggest Trump focus his coronavirus attacks on the outbreak, not his perceived enemies

With the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading through the U.S., hand sanitizer is selling out at some stores. Monday's Late Show had an alternative solution.

Coronavirus infections are popping up across the U.S., but "hardest hit so far is Washington state," where "thousands are now suspected to be infected and there have been multiple fatalities," Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show. "In the face of this virus, Trump is focusing on the most dangerous threat to America: the Democrats." Despite Trump's bloviating, he said, the coronavirus outbreak is "not a hoax, it's a crisis," and "Trump's more concerned with covering his a-- than protecting the American people."

Yes, "as concerns grow about the government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, the president is calling criticism of his response 'a hoax,'" Seth Meyers said on Late Night. "At this very moment, health-care professionals are warning about the lack of widespread accurate testing," and instead of "monitoring developments with the coronavirus and coming up with a reassuring government response," Trump has been "attacking Democrats for supposedly politicizing the crisis" and slamming "the media simply for pointing out these very real problems, with Trump himself calling criticism of his response to the outbreak 'a hoax.'"

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

"I think part of the problem here is that Trump only knows, like, five words, and 'hoax' is one of them," Meyers joked. Yet "somehow the president is not even the dumbest Donald Trump weigh in on this story," as Donald Trump Jr. made some "truly disgusting" accusations on Friday. "Someone is desperately trying to get their father to love them," he said, testing out a Don Jr. impression. "This is the kind of crisis management situation where you want competent, apolitical people in charge. Instead we have an administration that would rather spend its time raising money, meeting with the actors in a right-wing play, and cuddling with American flags."

"This situation is getting so serious that French people have been told not to kiss each other hello, which must be hard," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. "But the protocols make sense. Greeting people with physical contact is not a good idea right now, and black people are the only people who are really prepared for this." Senior Medical Correspondent Roy Wood Jr. tried to offer some practical advice. Watch below. Peter Weber