Seth Meyers has banned one influential figure from his talk show unless he does one thing: "I think..."
Donald Trump is not an easy man to interview, which may explain why he is not always welcomed on talk shows. 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' is one such program that has made it clear the current President of America is not invited. The reason? Meyers was standing in solidarity with his media peers, and given Trump’s controversial history with the press, his stance comes as no surprise.
Meyers has consistently criticized Trump in his 'A Closer Look' segments, but he made it clear during a 2016 episode of the show that Trump would never be welcomed as a guest. Meyers was outraged by Trump's decision to ban The Washington Post from attending his campaign events over a headline he disliked, as reported by Last Night On. In response, Meyers chose to stand in solidarity with the publication, declaring, "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." Meyers also took a jab at the real estate mogul, joking that Trump "missed out" on a chance to join him for a Carpool Scary-oke segment.
Trump did not hold back and responded to Meyers' ban the following day with a campaign statement, claiming that the host had repeatedly invited him on the show. "[Meyers] has begged me to do the show for the last two years," the statement read as per CBS News. "I have told him emphatically, 'No.'" I only like doing shows with good ratings, which, as everybody knows, I only make better (by a lot)."
Meyers then addressed the issue again, joking about the ban despite Trump never having appeared on the show. "We instituted this ban despite the fact he's never been here, or asked to be here, or would ever be caught dead here," Meyers quipped. "I just think that takes an amazing amount of courage on our part." He then turned the decision back to Trump, adding, "So, the ball is in your court, Donald. Either rescind your Washington Post ban or you're not allowed to appear on the show you have no interest in appearing on. Although maybe now that you can't have it, you're changing your mind."
For the uninformed, Trump, who was the presumptive Republican nominee in June 2016, announced that he was revoking The Washington Post's press credentials over its campaign coverage, as per NPR. This move follows a pattern of banning media outlets he deems unfair. The final trigger appeared to be a post story originally headlined "Donald Trump suggests President Obama was involved with Orlando shooting," later revised to "Donald Trump seems to connect President Obama to Orlando shooting."
Post Vice President for Communications Kristine Coratti Kelly addressed the headline revision, stating, "We changed the headline shortly after it posted to more properly reflect what Trump said. We did so on our own; the Trump campaign never contacted us about it," she said. The article included a quote from Trump's Fox News interview, in which he suggested Obama’s stance on terrorism was questionable: "He either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind," Trump said, criticizing Obama's refusal to use the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism" after the mass shooting.