By now you’ve probably heard that Donald Trump was on the campaign trail over the weekend, making stops in both Arizona and Nevada where he blathered on about other former presidents who also took millions of (de?)classified documents when they left office (spoiler: they didn’t) and bragged about how January 6th brought his biggest crowd ever. If you didn’t know any better, you would understandably think that these were official Trump rallies. Except they weren’t. And Seth Meyers, for one, is not the least bit surprised that Trump — who was supposed to be out there stumping for his fellow Republicans in key battleground states — instead made his stops all about Trump.
On Monday night, Meyers told viewers that “even though Trump is theoretically supposed to be there to campaign for other candidates, he always — without exception — makes it about himself. He’s like the best man at a wedding who gives a drunken toast about how awesome he is.”
While in Carson Valley in Northern Nevada on Saturday, for example, Trump — who mispronounced local congressman Mark Amodei’s last name — literally stole the stage from senatorial candidate Adam Laxalt and wannabe governor Joe Lombardo, both of whom got up to speak with Trump holding court as the unofficial emcee. “After Lombardo’s remarks, he could be heard asking Trump if he should stay up on stage with him,” Meyers said, “and I want you to guess Trump’s response.”
It wasn’t just a “no,” by the way. It was: “No, you go ahead down.” Meyers was really more surprised that Lombardo even thought to ask:
You thought Donald Trump would share a stage with you? This is a guy who once literally shoved another world leader at a NATO Summit to get to the front of the group. I’m shocked Trump didn’t pick Lombardo up over his head and throw him off the stage WWE-style.
Also, I love how sheepishly he asked Trump if he should stay up there with him. He’s like an actor asking a table of producers if he can audition a second time:
‘Do you want me to do that line again?’
‘Uh, no. You can just get the f**k on outta here. And you can actually take the headshot!’
On Sunday, Trump was in Arizona to try and pump up the campaigns of aspiring senator Blake Masters and batshit crazy MAGA/gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. “But again, he could not help but rant about his own problems,” Meyers explained. “Including the federal investigation into the classified documents he stole from the White House.”
“Now, any normal person in that situation might stay out of the spotlight. Or, at the very least, avoid talking about the case in public,” Meyers continued But Trump, as we all know, is not normal. And during that rally in Arizona Trump decided just essentially to confess.” And to rattle off the list of other former presidents who stole classified documents — including, according to Trump, the late George H.W. Bush, who “took millions of documents to a former bowling alley and a former Chinese restaurant, where they combined them, so they’re in a bowling alley/Chinese restaurant.” Which Meyers called a “truly insane story.”
You can watch the full clip above.