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Seth Meyers Discusses Jimmy Fallon’s Trump Interview and the Role of Late-Night TV: ‘People Use It for Escapism’

“I think it’s important to remember that some people want to turn on TV, like late night shows, and they want to see hard takes on politics. They want to be reminded of everything that’s going in the world, and then other people use it for escapism,” Meyers told CNN’s Brian Stelter in an interview earlier this week. “I think it’s important that those shows still exist for people who want to tune out politics for a night, and I think Jimmy does that better than anybody. I think he’s an entertainer. I think he’s an entertainer with skills at a level far beyond what I will ever possess.” Meyers famously banned Donald Trump from Late Night, though if he did interview him at this point, well, that would be some good late-night TV.

First came the outrage over Jimmy Fallon’s infamous Donald Trump interview, then Full Frontal’s Samantha Bee called out NBC and Fallon for treating Donald Trump with kid gloves. Through it all, Seth Meyers has put both Donald Trump and the media at large on blast, so mathematically speaking it was only a matter of time before someone asked Meyers to weigh in on Fallon’s softball treatment of Trump. According to the Late Night host, different shows serve different roles for different people. For example, some programs analyze the news, while others act as a mild sedative when the news has driven you the brink of a panic attack.

Seth Meyers Defends Fallon’s Trump Interview