Late night hosts think Trump's 'Live and Let Die' coronavirus field trip was a little 'on the nose'
Working from home is now so normal the Supreme Court is even doing it, including un-muted toilet flushing on work calls, Stephen Colbert laughed on Wednesday's Late Show. "Speaking of things going down the toilet: Our economy." At least 30 million Americans have lost their jobs, he noted. "Health experts say reopening the country too soon could have catastrophic results, but that's just a risk Trump is willing for you to take."
President Trump's "new 'Yeah people are gonna die but whatcha gonna do?' attitude also explains why, while he was touring the mask factory, his actual background music — and I promise you we did not make this up — was 'Live and Let Die.'" He suggested adding Peggy Lee and Cutting Crew to Trump's soundtrack.
"'Live and Let Die' playing while Trump tours a mask factory during a pandemic" might "end up as one of the enduring images of this crisis," Late Night's Seth Meyers marveled. "Wow, welcome to the resistance, Honeywell factory floor DJ? Doesn't get much more on the nose than that. What were the other songs on that playlist?" He suggested R.E.M.
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Trump "did have a message of compassion for those who've lost someone to the virus," kind of, Jimmy Kimmel said. "'No one has taken it harder.' That's why he doesn't sleep at night! The reason you don't sleep at night is because you're up watching Fox News and rage-tweeting about Kellyanne Conway's husband! So Trump right now, he is so ready to sabotage the stay-at-home orders so he can start holding rallies and playing golf again, he can barely contain himself" — and "his loon squad at Fox News" is singing loudly from the same hymnal.
"Clearly, Trump was feeling invincible yesterday," though, because he "did something that he's usually too afraid to do: an interview with someone who doesn't work at Fox News," Trevor Noah said at The Daily Show. Trump explained to ABC News' David Muir "he spent three years not preparing for a pandemic because he was distracted by all the scandals he created," and "between his refusal to wear a mask, his weak excuses for not preparing for the pandemic, and his attempt to kill the task force, Trump's field trip yesterday didn't get great reviews," Noah said. "It turns out, yesterday could have gone even worse."
The Late Show also imagined Trump blowing up the factory. 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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