Late-night hosts took aim at Donald Trump’s response to the mail bomber who targeted the president’s enemies critics and the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Stephen Colbert
On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about the shooting in Pittsburgh which resulted in 11 deaths, the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history. “Hate is not what America stands for,” he said.
Colbert continued: “Naturally in times like these, our country looks to our president for comfort and guidance. That’s our first mistake.”
At a rally that evening, Trump said he didn’t cancel because the day after 9/11, the stock exchange opened up for business. As Colbert noted, this is a lie, as it didn’t open again for six days.
“Trump’s instinct when addressing a tragedy was to lie about another tragedy,” he said. “I think lying about anything associated with 9/11 is a disqualifier for the presidency or really having any job.”
Trump also joked that he almost cancelled a speech, not because of the shooting, but because he was having a bad hair day. “Wait, so he thinks all the other ones are good hair days,” Colbert joked.
Footage also circulated of Trump unable to close an umbrella before getting on Air Force One. Instead, he just threw it down. “You can’t just drop an umbrella when you’re done with it,” he said. “It’s not a wife.”
Trevor Noah
“If the president calls someone the enemy of the people, don’t be shocked when the people go after that enemy.” #TrevorInMiami pic.twitter.com/iy7FISkE1a
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 30, 2018
On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah spoke about mail bomber Cesar Sayoc and his bizarre list of jobs, attempted or otherwise, including that he tried to be a stripper. “He tried to be a stripper?” Noah said. “That is the saddest line I’ve ever heard in my life. It makes it sound like he got onstage and was so bad that people started taking their dollar bills back.”
Sayoc’s van was also found to be covered in Trump-supporting stickers targeting the same critics. “I know America’s never gonna agree on gun control but can we at least talk about van control?” he joked. “Nothing good comes from a van. It’s either paedophiles or kidnappers or bombers.”
Despite the clear similarity in beliefs between him and the suspect, Trump continued to attack the press, calling them the enemy of the people. “If the president of the United States calls someone the enemy of the people, don’t be shocked when the people go after the enemy,” he said.
Noah continued: “Even the worst Yelp review in the world wouldn’t use that phrase.”
Seth Meyers
On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host also showed footage of Trump dropping his umbrella because he couldn’t figure out how to close it. “Trump’s the kind of rich asshole who, when his car runs out of gas, just leaves it on the side of the road,” he said.
Meyers said Trump was “incapable of mustering even the basic level of empathy” when talking about the Pittsburgh shooting before again noting that the president’s 9/11 fact was actually a lie.
“These are his most infuriating lies, the ones we can check by just typing them into Google, and the ones his supporters will never check,” he said.
Fox News pushed a number of conspiracy theories, including the unsubstantiated suggestion that the mail bombs were part of a false flag operation. “The only flag the suspect was waving was a Maga flag,” he said.
He also joked about Sayoc’s Trump sticker-covered van. “I didn’t think it was possible to make a white van even creepier,” he said.
Coverage from the right has continued to criticise violence on both sides, something that Meyers rejects. “It’s not both sides,” he said. “Only one side is repeating deranged conspiracy theories accusing Democrats of orchestrating an immigrant invasion, calling the press the enemy of the people and encouraging violence.”
