Seth Meyers: A Closer Look at Trump and the GOP refusing to accept defeat

In A Closer Look, Seth Meyers examined how President Donald Trump and his Republican allies refuse to accept the election

The 2020 presidential election was a long, drawn-out process. And thanks to President Donald Trump and many Republicans refusing to accept the results, that process is actually still going on even as the rest of the country moves forward. This alternate reality was the subject of “A Closer Look” last night on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

As predicted, we did not know the winner of the election on election night. States took the time to tally every ballot including the millions sent in by mail. When all the votes were counted, former Vice President Joe Biden overcame an election day deficit to defeat President Trump.

There have been acceptance speeches, congratulations from world leaders, and more signs that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are ready to take over the White House. Impeding the process is President Trump and his continued effort to overturn the election by citing fraud and conspiracies without evidence.

This too was predicted. But maybe what wasn’t so expected was how many Republicans fell in line behind President Trump even after his defeat. For more on this, Seth Meyers took “A Closer Look.”

Seth Meyers opens up “A Closer Look” by reviewing all of the Trump administration’s claims of voter fraud. The Late Night host points out that none of the lawsuits have been successful and some challenges would have no effect on the outcome. Joe Biden won a decisive victory that everyone has accepted except for President Trump and those loyal to him.

Even Fox News has (somewhat) refused to go along with Team Trump’s version of reality. Meyers shows a clip of the cable news network cutting away from Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnaney after it was clear she didn’t have the evidence to support her accusations. Meyers has spent years calling Fox News “state media” for its support of President Trump but here the network finally does something the comedian can approve.

A Closer Look highlights Donald Trump’s history of making baseless accusations

The one silver lining that Seth Meyers can find in this entire ordeal is that President Trump actually kept his word. “A Closer Look” has documented hundreds if not thousands of promises and statements that never actually came true. But when it comes to election fraud, President Trump is a man of his word according to Meyers:

"Trump has kept his word to the American people about not accepting the word of the American people."

“A Closer Look” segments prior to the election noted how desperate President Trump and his allies sounded as defeat looked more and more likely. So Meyers says that the president built in an excuse that the election was compromised. And sure enough, that’s just what President Trump has said for more than a week.

It is part of a pattern that Meyers showcases during this segment. Whether it was baseless claims about President Barack Obama, the millions of illegally cast votes in 2016, or the validity of mail-in ballots, Donald Trump has proven to be a sore winner and a sore loser who cannot accept a reality in which he doesn’t get his way.

Meyers wraps things up by once again saying that President Trump’s behavior is a symptom of the real problem that is the Republican Party. The Late Night host argues that the GOP attacks democracy in an effort to retain power. So when President Trump eventually does leave the White House, Meyers says it’s time for some major changes to the American political system. Just when exactly President Trump will leave remains to be seen.

What did you think of this installment of “A Closer Look”? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.