After two weeks of digital experimentation, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert all returned to the airwaves on Monday with modified versions of their late-night shows and a consistent message of outrage pointed in the direction of President Donald Trump—who recently floated the notion that New York hospital workers on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic might be stealing supplies.
“They’ve been delivering for years, 10 to 20,000 masks. Okay, it’s a New York hospital. It’s packed all the time. How do you go from 10 to 20, to 300,000? 10- to 20,000 masks to 300,000?” Trump asked during a press conference on Sunday. “Even though this is different, something is going on, and you ought to look into it as reporters. Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door?”
On Late Night, Meyers provided Trump with an answer to his rhetorical question: “I'm not wearing a mask, but if I did, I would remove it to make sure you could hear me clearly when I say fuck off,” Meyers said while sitting behind a desk in his home. “Trump thinks they might be stealing masks, because he would definitely steal masks. Trump is so deeply and completely corrupt he can’t even imagine someone having a legitimate motivation. I’m surprised he hasn’t opened a press conference saying, ‘Bad news, ventilators went missing. Good news, you guys, we found a corresponding amount of Trump-o-lators, which are very affordable.’”
Over on The Late Show—which Colbert has rechristened A Late Show on account of its now-homebound confines (his son handled camera duties, while his daughter served as a make-up artist)—the host was as equally indignant.
“Really? Accusing medical workers of stealing masks? That's like frisking Mother Theresa on the way out of the orphanage,” Colbert joked, before noting that Trump also claimed what was happening is “worse” than even hoarding.
“What is worse than hoarding?” Colbert asked. “Does he think they're holding underground Eyes Wide Shut medical supply orgies where the masks where masks?”
Like Colbert, Kimmel also found Trump's remarks beyond the pale: “Yeah, like someone pinched a crate of silverware at one of his casinos in Atlantic City. What on earth?” an incredulous Kimmel said. The host has outfitted his home with multiple cameras, lights, and monitors, giving Jimmy Kimmel Live an almost normal look and feel. “Is he implying that after work, these nurses get off their 12-hour shift, and steal masks so they can go sand a deck in their backyard? You know how when you overhear something at another table at a restaurant, and it’s so crazy you want to say something, but your wife tells you not to, and then you think about it all night? Our president is the guy sitting at that table.”
— Cover Story: How Reese Witherspoon Turned Her Literary Obsession Into an Empire
— The Best Movies and Shows on Netflix to Watch While Stuck at Home
— A First Look at Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story
— An Exclusive Excerpt From Natalie Wood, Suzanne Finstad’s Biography—With New Details About Wood’s Mysterious Death
— Tiger King Is Your Next True-Crime TV Obsession
— The Best Shows to Stream If You’re in Quarantine
— From the Archive: A Friendship With Greta Garbo and Its Many Pleasures
Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hollywood newsletter and never miss a story.
