Seth Meyers Bans Donald Trump From His Show

Seth Meyers took on Donald Trump this week, banning him from appearing on Meyer's Late Night show and debunking his assertions that he's a better LGBT ally than his Democratic opponent for president, Hillary Clinton.

During Meyers's "A Closer Look" segment on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's response to the Orlando mass shooting, the host called out Trump's bullying behavior, including his revocation of The Washington Post's access to his campaign events. "As for The Washington Post, we here at Late Night believe in the freedom of the press and have therefore decided to stand in solidarity with them," Meyers said. "So as long as The Washington Post is banned from Donald Trump's campaign, Donald Trump will be banned from ever coming on this show."

After pointing out Trump's more wild anti-Muslim statements and his insinuations that President Obama was complicit in or sympathetic toward the attack on Pulse early Sunday, Meyers moved on to the latest ridiculousness with Trump desperately and naively angling for votes from LGBT people people and their allies. In response to Trump's boast to Fox News that he is "far better for the gay community than [Hillary Clinton] is," Meyers agreed, sardonically adding "as long as you ignore all the times Trump has repeatedly expressed his opposition to marriage equality and promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn it."

It's doubtful that Trump would want to appear on Late Night in the first place, given the show's history of skewering him. And while other late-night hosts such as Samantha Bee and John Oliver probably don't have to worry about Trump breaking down their doors to get on their shows, it would be wonderful if the rest of the late night-shows would join Late Night in its stand against Trump's latest antimedia move. This election cycle has already seen Trump reap the benefits of hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live and meeting his own reflection in a weirdly ingratiating sketch on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. Maybe it's time these shows stopped giving a platform to a man who wants to build walls, deport immigrants, and appoint Supreme Court justices who would dismantle marriage equality.