The mainstream media may be having some trouble this week calling out Donald Trump’s claims about Muslim-Americans cheering on 9/11 and bogus crime statistics about black-on-white crime. But Seth Meyers has no problem calling them what they are: lies.
Right off the bat Tuesday night, Meyers took a “closer look” at the “false and racist” claims Trump has been batting around this week about Muslims and African-Americans.
After the Republican frontrunner doubled-down on his story about seeing Muslims in New Jersey celebrating on television as the World Trade Center burned, Meyers noted, “Let’s remember Trump also said he met Vladimir Putin when they were on the same episode of 60 Minutes, even though they filmed their segments thousands of miles apart. So, Trump’s understanding about how TV works is not entirely trustworthy.”
At a campaign rally this week, Trump read aloud from a Washington Post story published the week after 9/11, which claimed that "authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river."
However, when The Daily Beast reached out to Serge Kovaleski, one of that article’s original reporters, he debunked Trump’s claims. “I do not recall anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating,” he said. “That was not the case, as best as I can remember."
“But Trump doesn’t care about that,” Meyers said in response. “When confronted about his lies, he doubles down. And much like the KFC Double Down, each one is getting harder to digest.” And as Trump told NBC News reporter Katy Tur, he has “the world’s best memory,” so there’s simply no way he could be wrong.
Next, Meyers moved on to the irresponsible retweet that remains on Trump’s Twitter feed days after its “blatantly racist” statistics from the made up “Crime Statistics Bureau” were proven false:
"I didn’t tweet, I retweeted somebody that was supposedly an expert,” Trump told Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly Monday night. Pressed further by the host, Trump asked, “Am I gonna check every statistic?"
“When your defense is you didn’t tweet it, you retweeted it, you’re beyond doubling down, now you’re quadrupling down,” Meyers said. “But if you’re waiting for Trump to apologize for anything he’s said, don’t hold your breath.” Despite his world-class memory, Trump has claimed he can’t remember that last time he apologized for something he said.
“He probably forgot, because he has too many things to remember that didn’t happen,” Meyers concluded.
