Following a report of President Donald Trump sharing classified information to senior Russian officials during their visit to the White House, Seth Meyers wasted no time in criticizing the President on Monday’s Late Night With Seth Meyers that night.
Meyers took Trump to task during his A Closer Look segment, saying that “we’re at a point now in the Trump presidency that feels very much like a pivotal moment for our democracy.” The host went so far as to call the president “worse than Nixon,” a comparison that some of Trump’s critics have invoked lately.
“Trump is worse than Nixon. He’s shameless Nixon,” Meyers said. “Nixon famously said, ‘I am not a crook.’ Trump’s basically saying, ‘I am a crook and there’s nothing you can do about it and, in fact, I’m having three scoops of ice cream.’”
Meyers then called on the GOP to hold Trump accountable for his actions.
“Our democracy only works if both parties choose to exercise the checks on presidential power that our Constitution prescribes,” Meyers said. “Republicans can’t just abdicate their responsibility.
Trump defended his “right” to share the information in a pair of tweets on Tuesday morning, contradicting White House officials, who denounced the report Monday evening.
Watch the segment above.
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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com