Seth Meyers: A Closer Look at how Trump and Kushner failed their responsibilities

In A Closer Look, Seth Meyers argued that the White House has failed to adequately handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thursday’s White House press briefing on COVID-19 featured Jared Kushner, a special advisor to President Donald Trump and his son-in-law. It put Kushner back in the national spotlight and made him the subject of “A Closer Look” on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Kushner is no stranger to being mocked by late night television hosts. Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and John Oliver are among those who have made him a punchline.

But with reports indicating that Kushner has inserted himself into efforts to combat the novel coronavirus, those punchlines are sure to escalate. The first example came on Thursday night’s “A Closer Look” on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Meyers included Kushner in assigning blame to the White House for failing to make enough tests available and failing to deliver ventilators to areas that need them the most. President Trump didn’t get off easy either as Meyers argued the leader has abdicated his responsibilities.

After a look at what Taiwan, Iceland, and South Korea have done to reduce COVID-19 cases, Meyers compares that to the response by the U.S. government. The host starts off by going after President Trump and his claims that testing wasn’t a problem despite reports from governors to the contrary. Meyers then moves on to concerns over the number and quality of ventilators, noting that President Trump doesn’t seem to know what they’re called.

When it is time to turn to Jared Kushner, Meyers does not hold back in letting the audience knows how he feels. Clearly he and the Late Night writers couldn’t decide on which insult to use in Kushner’s introduction so they went with both.

Meyers reminds his viewers of why Kushner is in a position of power in the first place. The comedian isn’t exactly comfortable with a “nepotism case” deciding how many ventilators New York City needs for its hospitals.

“A Closer Look” manages to look at both the immediate situation and how it will be remembered in the future. What Meyers sees as today’s failures by the federal government will be recorded in history with much of the blame directed at Donald Trump and Jared Kushner.

For late night fans, the continued coverage from Late Night with Seth Meyers has been much-needed relief. Millions of fans watch “A Closer Look” to hear a voice of reason and have some laughs along the way. Keep checking Last Night On for more from Seth Meyers and the rest of late night television. For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.