Late-night hosts took aim at reality TV star turned president Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban, calling it “sloppy and confusing”.
The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah spoke about the widespread protests that have cropped up after Trump’s decision to restrict travel from a number of Muslim-majority countries.
“Do you understand how insane this is?” he said. “People in the airport were pissed and it’s not because they’re at the airport. Welcome to Trump’s America.” He then added: “No matter how bad the situation you’re in, Donald Trump can always make it worse.”
Noah also took aim at the apparent incompetence that accompanied the ban, with officials not receiving the proper briefing, saying Trump had “put this thing together with all the consideration of a drunken Vegas wedding”.
.@HasanMinhaj examines the uplifting public response to Trump’s Muslim ban. https://t.co/1VXE0RYE2g pic.twitter.com/blP6zG40ce
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 31, 2017
He also spoke to senior correspondent Hasan Minhaj who spoke about how the ban affected him. He ridiculed his Republican friends who told him this wouldn’t happen and also worried about the future for all Muslims within the US.
“It’s like watching the first episode of Breaking Bad and thinking, ‘Oh it’s just a science teacher cooking meth, it can’t get any crazier,’” he said.
After a week away, Stephen Colbert returned to The Late Show and was shocked to see what he had missed in such a short time. “You’ve got to give the guy credit,” he said. “He can really get a lot of stuff undone. From Obamacare to climate change to torture, he’s already moved the country back to 2004.”
He called Trump “the Usain Bolt of executive orders”.
Colbert also referenced Trump’s tweet about trying to get rid of “bad dudes”, questioning the strange use of the word dudes.
“If you’re talking about the most evil people in the world, that’s pretty flippant,” he said. “There’s a good reason Winston Churchill didn’t say, ‘We shall fight the dudes on the beaches, we shall fight the bros on the landing grounds, we shall fight the homies in the fields and in the streets.’”
Colbert also expressed concern over Breitbart editor turned political strategist Steve Bannon’s ascent within the government, referring to him as “Trump’s top adviser and handsomest guy at the liquor store”.
On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the ex-SNL comic took a closer look at Trump’s first week as president, noting that there was one thing to be impressed with.
“Trump did accomplish something truly remarkable,” he said. “He managed to spark yet another round of nationwide protests for the second time in just the first week of his presidency, and people are willing to go to shit places to protest. Last week it was parks, this week it was airports, next week people are going to march for gay rights at the DMV.”
He also criticized the incompetency behind the travel ban, calling it “sloppy and confusing”. He questioned whether a future tactic should be implemented to prevent further problems.
“Trump should be the first president that legally has to count to 100 before taking action,” he said. “Not because he’ll think better of it, but because he’ll get what it is.”
Meyers went on to bring up Rudy Giuliani’s recent interview with Fox News where he openly went against Republican rhetoric to confess that the ban was indeed about restricting Muslims from entering the US.
“Rudy, you’re not supposed to say that out loud,” he said. “Rudy’s the kind of guy that would send a girl a dozen roses with a card that says: ‘I’m hoping these will make you want to sleep with me.’”
Finally, Jimmy Fallon dressed up as Trump for a skit where he unveiled a “huge wheel of decisions” that is being used to dictate what happens next in the country.
“Sure, repealing Obamacare isn’t great, but at least it didn’t land on ‘nuke the moon’ just to see what happens,” he said.
In character, Fallon went on: “Look people, I’ve made my position on immigration very clear. When it comes to immigrants, you have two choices: either get out of here or marry me.”
