As the presidential election inches closer, Donald Trump seems to be ramping up his rhetoric that this whole process is out to get him. So on Monday’s “Closer Look” segment, Late Night host Seth Meyers examined how Trump trailing in the polls has caused him to lash out at the media and the election process.
Trump has never been shy about criticizing the media, but recent rants about the impending election being rigged are veering towards fringe conspiracy theorist territory. Nowhere was this more prevalent than during Trump’s speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Meyers analyzed the speech, saying it was originally intended to be a platform to discuss new policies that quickly dissolved into a usual Trump rally speech:
“Trump’s campaign said the event would feature a series of major new policy proposals, and the speech was a chance for Trump to finally rise above the fray and come across as presidential, and he definitely did not do that… So basically, Trump did worse at Gettysburg than the South did. Trump giving a speech at Gettysburg only made sense if it was also the location where Abraham Lincoln was caught on a hot mic before taping an episode of Access Pennsylvania.”
Trump has been aiming his complaints at his sexual assault accusers and the media specifically, but Meyers pointed out the Donald may have a new set of enemies: dead people. Many Trump surrogates are under the impression dead people are still on the voter roll and may cause Trump to lose the election. No Trump surrogate is behind the dead voter conspiracy other than Rudy Giuliani, who told a perplexed Jake Tapper dead people generally vote for Democrats over Republicans.
But Meyers said one of the most dangerous parts of this election is voters believing Trump’s rigged election rhetoric. He has urged some of his supporters to watch polling places on Election Day for any funny business, which some are going to do. Meyers argued other Republicans were just as guilty of this, as the GOP has passed voter ID laws and ended early voting. He used an example in North Carolina, where residents can wait up to four hours to cast their ballots, saying: “To put that in context, four hours is longer than Donald Trump prepared for any of the debates. The only place Trump spent four hours is backstage at a Miss Universe pageant.”
(Via Late Night with Seth Meyers)
