Beto O’Rourke’s announcement gets a closer look from Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers took a closer look at Beto O’Rourke’s 2020 announcement and the response from President Donald Trump.

Beto O’Rourke became the latest Democrat to announce a campaign for president in 2020. And while O’Rourke’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past two years, it looks as though President Donald Trump is not among his fans. Seth Meyers explained on last night’s “A Closer Look.”

O’Rourke joined a field of Democratic candidates that is only slightly smaller than the number of late night hosts. This comes after O’Rourke was defeated in last year’s senate race in Texas by Republican Ted Cruz.

Despite the election loss, O’Rourke got plenty of attention for everything from his looks to his time in a punk band to his actual policies. The 46 year old will now look to campaign against veteran politicians like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as well as younger candidates like Corey Booker and Tulsi Gabbard.

Of course, any Democrat running for president in 2020 knows that he or she will face the “wrath” of President Donald Trump. Part of that will no doubt include personal insults and a nickname or two. On Late Night with Seth Meyers, O’Rourke’s announcement and Trump’s response got a closer look:

Seth Meyers begins the segment by breaking down reasons President Trump should be concerned about his reelection chances. Meyers refers to Trump as perhaps the weakest candidate of any sitting president and one that a number of Americans consider a liar and criminal. That does sound like the sort of one-sided media coverage Trump recently lashed out against but on the other hand, those are also the facts.

But maybe President Trump would appreciate the jokes Meyers had at O’Rourke’s expense. The former Texas representative gave an interview with Vanity Fair that included some amusing quotes that Meyers couldn’t ignore. It’s not the best look for a politician to say that he has no idea where the things he said came from. Meyers fairly points this out and we’ll see if the “Would we make fun of Donald Trump for saying this?” criteria continues through Late Night‘s election coverage.

Seth Meyers’ jokes weren’t the only “attacks” on Beto O’Rourke after he announced his campaign. As expected, Fox News was quick to try to dismiss him but that may have backfired. Then there was President Donald Trump himself who took issue with O’Rourke’s hand movements and whether that could mean Beto is crazy.

Trump may need to come up with some better insults if he is going to derail Beto’s momentum. And as Meyers acknowledged, the number of investigations, scandals, and lies associated with Trump’s administration has motivated Democrats to challenge him in 2020.

Late Night with Seth Meyers is positioned to become the go-to late night show for coverage of the 2020 election. Seth Meyers and his writers seem to have a good plan for how to approach President Trump and his Democratic opponents. Keep checking back in with Last Night On for all the highlights.