Seth Meyers: A Closer Look at CPAC’s big lies

The Conservative Political Action Conference took place over the weekend, bringing together the country’s most prominent conservatives and Republicans. It was a chance for them to establish their policies moving forward but was also a chance to continue spreading misinformation as Seth Meyers explained in “A Closer Look.”

Late night hosts have had CPAC on their radar for some time now. Jimmy Kimmel offered a preview of what former President Donald Trump would say while Late Night with Seth Meyers anticipated the GOP would further delve into conspiracy theories and deception.

In the end, the event was pretty much exactly what anyone would expect. Monday gave late night comedians the chance to respond. While some, like Stephen Colbert, didn’t give CPAC their full attention, it was worthy of “A Closer Look” from Seth Meyers.

Meyers reacted to former President Trump’s speech as well as how the entire event continued to push the “Big Lie” about the 2020 election and more. And once again, Meyers didn’t hesitate to call out Republicans by name.

Seth Meyers starts “A Closer Look” by reminding his viewers that anytime Donald Trump is in front of a microphone, it’s essential to take what he says with a healthy dose of skepticism. As president, Trump made false promises about the pandemic and continually denied reality. Meyers also pointed out that this mindset spread throughout the Republican Party.

So with that in mind, it was no surprise to hear Meyers point out lie after lie he says was spread at this year’s CPAC. “A Closer Look” focuses on speeches from Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Kristi Noem that stood out for their detachment from reality.

Seth Meyers takes A Closer Look at Ted Cruz, Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump at CPAC

Give credit to Senator Ted Cruz: it was a bold move to make a joke about his trip to Mexico when he took the stage at CPAC. The “joke” further cemented him as late night TV’s top villain of the post-Trump era, perhaps rivaled only by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Meyers dismisses Cruz’s speech by comparing it to a bad standup routine. The Late Night host also suggests there may be other reasons why someone would recommend that the Texas Senator wear more than one mask.

“A Closer Look” then turns to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who bragged about her state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But as always, Meyers lets facts get in the way and remind his viewers that South Dakota statistics aren’t great and the state was home to a massive superspreader event.

When it comes to former Donald Trump’s speech, Meyers does what Stephen Colbert did and refuses to go too deep into what was said by the former president. Instead, the Late Night host reported that the speech was full of deranged lies and focused only on Trump’s attempts to take credit for the vaccine.

For Meyers, this is the least dangerous lie that Trump said at CPAC. That makes it the only one worth showing in “A Closer Look.” It’s easy for Meyers to dismiss and debunk it. There are countless moments from his show that examined the botched vaccine rollout. Meyers hasn’t forgotten, even if the crowd at CPAC is living in a different reality.

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