Donald Trump wanted fewer reporters around him, but he apparently didn’t plan for what would happen when they stopped showing up.
On Late Night‘s “A Closer Look,” Seth Meyers seized on the bizarre fallout from the White House press ban after the TV pool refused to cover Trump’s event — leaving viewers with a president who could barely be heard.
Meyers used the audio-less appearance to mock Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, arguing that the move may have backfired in an especially fitting way.
After a clip showed the event struggling without a microphone, Meyers delivered the night’s sharpest punchline: “The best is that sound is always the substance of what Trump is saying.”
He added a whirring sound for emphasis, along with Trumpian hand gestures, and added, “Trump can’t stomach anything that intrudes on the delicate cocoon of validation and praise he’s constructed for himself by stacking his administration with sycophants who will print out flattering memes for him whenever his self-esteem is low.”
After landing the microphone joke, Meyers argued that the press ban was part of a broader effort to keep Trump surrounded by favorable coverage. “He doesn’t want Politico or CNN or MS NOW, or anyone else around him who will state obvious facts like the war in Iran is going badly, or gas prices are skyrocketing,” Meyers said. “Or you have the worst poll numbers of any president this century, or you do not have a high IQ just because you think…”
Cue the tape of Trump saying, “Grass has a life like humans have a life,” leaving Meyers to deadpan, “If anyone else said that, I’d say, ‘I think you’ve had enough grass, bud.’”
Meyers continued, “Trump doesn’t want to live in our reality. He wants to live in his reality. A reality where the only information he gets is information like this.”
Meyers’ team then ran an MS NOW clip showing yet another example of the bubble surrounding Trump, recounting how the president was reportedly given a flattering two-page assessment declaring him the most powerful person who had ever lived. The supposed source of the analysis, however, wasn’t actually a historian, Meyers noted. He was a business associate and longtime caddy of golfer Gary Player — prompting Meyers to joke that adding “and caddy” immediately undermines whatever authority came before it.