Late night hosts take exception to Trump’s take on ‘Blue States’ COVID crisis
Late-night talk show hosts — all of whom have studios in New York or California — took exception to the president’s suggestion that the nation’s pandemic doesn’t look so bad on paper if you don’t count the states that vote Democratic.
“If you take the Blue States out we’re at a level I don’t think anyone at the world would be at,” Trump said at a press conference Thursday afternoon. That video was played several times on the evening’s TV comedy circuit.
Jimmy Fallon, who resides in California, struggled to digest the president’s argument.
“You can’t just not count certain states,” the “Tonight Show” host said. “That’s like eating a salad for lunch and a cheeseburger for dinner then saying ‘if you don’t count the burger, I’m vegan.’”
Seth Meyers, who calls New York home, took the president’s dismissiveness of huge segments of the nation more personally.
“As someone who lives in one of those states and knows people affected by this virus I’d like to say go f--k yourself you rotting soulless business ham,” he said.
Meyers also noted that aside from all of his albums, pop-musician Kid Rock has had a fantastic career.
“This has to be one of the most grotesque things the president has ever said,” Meyers claimed.
He also credited the president for clarifying that he isn’t interested in anyone who isn’t of use to him personally.
“The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah, who calls New York City home, joked “While we’re at it, why don’t we not count the Red States too, then the U.S. has zero deaths, which is pretty impressive if you ask me.”
He called it “astounding” a leader would speak of his country that way. Noah also noted that parts of upstate New York and Staten Island have large numbers of Trump supporters and wondered how much further the president would continue dissecting the populous to undermine the dangers of the pandemic.
On CBS, Stephen Colbert, who tapes on the East Coast too, showed “crazy” video of the president encouraging states to reopen because a vaccine is on the way, though he doesn’t know when. Trump has teased it could be a matter of weeks, while CDC Director Robert Redfeld told Congress Wednesday that it could be nearly another year before inoculations are available on a mass scale.
Calling the president’s attitude toward Blue States “unspeakably monstrous,” Colbert too had an analogy.
“This is like being asked to speak at a funeral and saying 'we’re here to mourn the passing of Kevin, but if you take him out of the equation, this is a pretty good party — I got to ride in the limo!” he joked.
Colbert also said that the states with the highest numbers of COVID-19 deaths have been New York, New Jersey, California, Texas and Florida. The latter two voted for Trump in 2016.
California, Texas, Florida and New York, in that order, are the nation’s most populous states and make up roughly a third of the country’s population. New Jersey ranks 11th in population, but is one of the nation’s most densely populated states.
“So he’s just saying if you don’t count the states with people, he’s done a great job,” Colbert noted
The CDC reports that California has the highest number of infections, followed by Texas and Florida.
The president was raised in New York City, but declared himself a Florida man in 2019.
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