ELECTION 2016 - Candidates' Flaws as Fodder for Comedy

"The candidates' flaws are a laughing matter for Seth Meyers" PBS NewsHour 10/14/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  From the "birther" controversy to beauty queens, this year's presidential election has granted endless fodder for late-night comedians.  How do Seth Meyers and his fellow talk-show hosts strike a balance between political analysis and humor?  Meyers joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss the antics of Donald Trump, why Meyers travels with his desk and his show's biggest competition.

SETH MEYERS, “Late Night With Seth Meyers”:  My new set, it's technically really just the same furniture in a different place.

JEFFREY BROWN:  You even brought your own desk.

SETH MEYERS:  My own desk, yes.  When a man hosts a show he builds a relationship with the desk, and you can't just–

JEFFREY BROWN:  Not just any desk.

SETH MEYERS:  You can't be promiscuous with the desk.  You have to be loyal to one desk.

So yeah, we brought it down.

Good evening, everybody.  I'm Seth Meyers.  This is “Late Night”.  We're in Washington D.C.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The nation's capital,  a destination, Seth Meyers told me, that fits with the DNA of his show.

SETH MEYERS:  They thought it was totally normally to just start walking off the stage while Hillary was giving an answer.

Where is he going?  What's back there, the ash heap of history?

JEFFREY BROWN:  Biting, direct, sometimes using raw language — Meyers' monologues have become increasingly political.

DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Candidate:  Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.

SETH MEYERS:  President Obama was born in the United States, period?  (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you, exclamation point!

JEFFREY BROWN:  Targeting Donald Trump in particular.

When we met in the Warner Theater last Friday, just before the leak of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape, I asked about the daily focus on Trump.

SETH MEYERS:  Well, it's really because of what he's doing.  You know, we're not going out and sort of — we don't feel like we're making ad hominem attacks on him and just every day saying, “We got to find something on him.”  You know, it's on the front page of the paper every day.  You know, we do feel pretty strongly about everything.  You know, I feel like comedy these days particularly is allowed to have a point of view.