Late night hosts debate why Democrats lost big on Tuesday, lean toward Terry McAuliffe's dancing

"Earlier today, President Biden returned to Washington, D.C., after a six-day trip to Europe — then he saw last night's election results and went right back to Europe," Jimmy Fallon joked on Wednesday's Tonight Show. "It was a tough night for Democrats, starting with their loss in the Virginia governor's race," and now "Republicans haven't been this excited since they realized that you can print fake vaccine cards off of Google Images."
Democrats "barely eked out a victory in the race for governor of New Jersey, and that state is more blue than an orgy of Smurfs," Trevor Noah said on The Daily Show. "But the bigger loss was in Virginia." He suggested Democrat Terry McAuliffe's dance moves may have tipped the gubernatorial race to Republican Glenn Youngkin: "You know what they say, 'Dance like nobody's voting for you.'"
Seriously, "why did Democrats do so badly in Virginia last night?" he said. "Well, it depends on who you ask." He ran through the likely factors.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
"A lot of factors go into every victory and every election, but I believe the deciding factor here was that Youngkin had the one quality that Virginia voters wanted most: not being Terry McAuliffe," Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show, also cringing at McAuliffe's dancing. "Maybe I'm alone, but I'm not that upset — I've already endured the worst election in American history" in 2016, he said. "This one just seems like another election. 'Oh, no, Terry McAuliffe didn't win? Will the Republic survive our post-Terry future?'"
Look, "people tend to vote more when they're upset with the person in power, and right now that person is Joe Biden," Colbert said. "Voting is like democracy's Yelp review. You never leave a comment when the soup was tasty, but if you bring me still water when I asked for sparkling, I will burn your bistro to the ground!"

"It's just a tough political environment for Democrats right now," Seth Meyers said on Late Night, and instead of "ludicrously blaming progressives" for Tuesday's losses, Beltway pundits should finger "the Manchins and Sinemas of the world" for dragging out passage of popular legislation "so it's longer and more painful than Terry McAuliffe dancing on stage." Seriously, he told McAuliffe, "I never thought I would say this, but have you thought about taking dancing lessons from Donald Trump?"
"Things aren't great, but they could definitely be worse," Jimmy Kimmel shrugged on Kimmel Live. In fact, on this one-year anniversary of the the 2020 election, "let's look back at the many times Donald Trump warned us of what would happen under a Biden presidency." And so he did.

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
5 cartoons about the TACO trade
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on America's tariffs, Vladimir Putin waiting for taco Tuesday, and a new presidential seal
-
A city of culture in the high Andes
The Week Recommends Cuenca is a must-visit for those keen to see the 'real Ecuador'
-
The Chagos Islands: Starmer's 'lousy deal'
Talking Point The PM's adherence to 'legalism' has given Mauritius a 'gift from British taxpayers'
-
Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hub
speed read Israeli troops fired warning shots at the Palestinians
-
Israel's Western allies pull back amid Gaza escalation
speed read Britain and the EU are reconsidering allegiance with Israel as the Gaza siege continues
-
Trump drops ceasefire demand after Putin call
speed read Following a phone call with Russia's president, Trump backed off an earlier demand that Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine
-
Pro-EU centrist beats Trump acolyte in Romania vote
speed read The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, defeated hard-right nationalist George Simion in the race for Romania's presidency
-
Israel-US 'rift': is Trump losing patience with Netanyahu?
Today's Big Question US president called for an end to Gaza war and negotiated directly with Hamas to return American hostage, amid rumours of strained relations
-
Kurdish PKK militia to disband for Turkey talks
speed read The Kurdistan Workers' Party will disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, putting an end to 'one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East'
-
US, China agree to lower tariffs for 90 days
speed read US tariffs will fall to 30% from 145%, while China will cut its tax on US imports to 10% from 125%
-
India strikes Pakistan as tensions mount in Kashmir
speed read Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it an 'act of war'