Late Night Calls for Bringing the Political Temperature Down

Television|Late Night Calls for Bringing the Temperature Down

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Starting at the Top

Late night addressed the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Thursday, with Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Michael Kosta and Stephen Colbert all condemning politically motivated violence.

In a somber start to “Late Night,” Meyers called such violence “anathema to the highest ideals of this country. It corrodes us and threatens the very foundations of our democracy.”

He mentioned several recent attempts (some successful) on the lives of political figures, including “not one, but two assassination attempts against Donald Trump.”

“In a moment like this, it is the responsibility of all public figures to marshal their dignity and compassion and lead us to a calmer, more rational place. This effort cannot be one-sided, and it must start at the top.” — SETH MEYERS

Meyers didn’t call out Trump for failing to meet that standard, but Jimmy Kimmel did.

“And with all these terrible things happening, you would think that our president would at least make an attempt to bring us together, but he didn’t. President Obama did, President Biden did, Presidents Bush and Clinton did. President Trump did not. Instead, he blamed Democrats for their rhetoric.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“The man who told a crowd of supporters that maybe ‘the Second Amendment people’ should do something about Hillary Clinton. The man who said he wouldn’t mind if someone shot through the fake news media. The man who unleashed a mob on the Capitol and said Liz Cheney should ‘face nine barrels shooting at her’ for supporting his opponent blames the radical left for their rhetoric.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

On “The Daily Show,” Michael Kosta had a similar assessment of Trump, but he wondered whether over-the-top rhetoric was really the problem.

“So here we go again: ‘It’s Democrats’ rhetoric.’ ‘No, it’s Republicans’ rhetoric.’ Has anyone considered that the problem of political violence in America might not just be the rhetoric, but instead something extraordinarily complex? The problem might be a toxic mix of our gun laws, lack of mental health, collapsed social connection, probably a bunch of other things I haven’t even thought of yet. I’m sure Labubus are somewhere in there to blame.” — MICHAEL KOSTA

“So, yeah, Donald Trump came out with a partisan message blaming the left. And let’s be real, did we expect anything different? This is what this guy does. The last time Trump delivered a thoughtful message was apparently when he sent a birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein.” — MICHAEL KOSTA

On “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert commended Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, for urging anyone with a platform to say that “political violence must be called out, and it has to stop.”

“I agree with that sentiment. We should be able to settle our disagreements civilly. In the end, as Americans, we are all brothers and sisters. Or at least Mike Johnson and I look like we are.” — STEPHEN COLBERT, showing photos of himself and a remarkably similar-looking Mike Johnson

“It should go without saying that violence is never the answer to political disagreement. But I think these days it should be said as often as possible.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

The Bits Worth Watching

Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ronson played a game of “True Confessions” on Thursday’s “Tonight Show.”