Seth Meyers on His Simple Trick for Interviewing Kellyanne Conway

2 minute read
By Megan McCluskey

During a January appearance on Late Night, Seth Meyers memorably went toe-to-toe with President Donald Trump’s senior White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway who has staunchly defended untrue statements made by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Even the late night comedian is quick to admit that it wasn’t his interviewing skills that came in handy for him.

In a recent interview with GQ, the host revealed the secret to keeping up with Conway is having his live audience of fans to keep things in check.

With Kellyanne Conway, the thing I realized from watching the news was that here was somebody who obviously had all these interview chess moves that were at a much higher level than I could operate on. But the huge advantage I have over people in the news is a live audience. It’s so great, because they serve as an audible bulls—t detector. There was a moment where I said to Kellyanne, ‘That’s a pivot.’ I feel like if [CNN’s] Jake Tapper said that, she’d say, ‘No, it’s not,’ and explain why it wasn’t a pivot. But when I said, ‘That’s a pivot,’ the audience laughed, and it took away her ability to lie. She would not just be saying that I was wrong but 200 other people were wrong.

Watch the full interview below.

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Write to Megan McCluskey at megan.mccluskey@time.com