Seth Meyers: A Closer Look at Trump’s coronavirus confession and GOP denial

A Closer Look examined Bob Woodward’s tapes and the Republican defense of President Trump

It has never been easy to defend the words and actions of President Donald Trump but his Republican allies have done it time and time again. But with the bombshell revelation from Bob Woodward’s book that President Trump intentionally downplayed COVID-19, the GOP is facing the indefensible. That won’t stop them from trying as Seth Meyers explained in “A Closer Look.”

Meyers has continually made a point to lay blame for President Trump on the Republican Party and conservative movement. The Late Night host has described the president as a symptom of a disease that stretches back decades.

Still, few leaders like Donald Trump have existed in American history. And history will surely remember the day Bob Woodward’s tapes were released, proving that President Trump was well aware of how deadly and contagious the novel coronavirus was at its earliest stages.

A shocked but not surprised Seth Meyers discussed how President Trump neglected his duties as well as the weak excuses from GOP members in defense of their party leader. Watch last night’s “A Closer Look” right here:

Seth Meyers lays out how impossible it is to defend what President Trump said to Bob Woodward. This didn’t come from an anonymous source like in The Atlantic report or from leaks inside the administration. It is President Trump, in his own words, admitting to misleading the public over a health emergency.

Meyers admits that hearing President Trump’s confession was the first time he’s been shocked in a long time. This is from the same late-night host who spent weeks and months covering the quid pro quo confession. But the stakes here are much higher and Meyers simply cannot believe that the president intentionally withheld crucial information from Americans.

A Closer Look targets Republicans and Team Trump members for defending the president

What is easier for Seth Meyers to believe is how Team Trump rallied around the president. “A Closer Look” has time and time again called out the GOP and Fox News for doing the dirty work to make President Trump look good.

Sean Hannity, Steve Doocy, and Senator John Kennedy are singled out for trying to, for a lack of a better word, downplay what President Trump said. But Meyers isn’t buying that this can be dismissed like other Trump scandals and won’t let them off the hook.

Late Night seems to have higher levels of accountability than President Trump’s supporters. Meyers closes out “A Closer Look” with a reminder:

"Nearly 200,000 of our fellow Americans have died, millions more have suffered, the president and everyone around him knew that would happen. They did nothing. They lied about it. In a just world, in a functioning democracy all these people would be shamed and banished from power for good. At the very least they should lose their jobs in November."

What did you think of this installment of “A Closer Look”? Share your thoughts in the comment section. Keep checking Last Night On for more from Late Night with Seth Meyers.