The White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting was the subject of a “Closer Look” segment on Monday night’s episode of the NBC show. Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Host Seth Meyers began the segment by thanking law enforcement and emphasizing that he was glad everyone was safe. Wolf Blitzer also thanked CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for his reporting from the bathroom of the Washington Hilton, even though the veteran news anchor was stuck there with 15 other men, a scenario Myers described as his “literal nightmare.”
“[If] “Wolf’s in the room, there’s got to be a situation,” Myers said, imagining the scene. “And also, what happens if you actually have to use the bathroom? Which I definitely should because even when I hear gunshots in a movie I pee myself. Just make sure you’re in a silent bathroom, no cell service, and then you quietly try to slip into the stall without anyone noticing, and then you do your thing while 15 other guys are standing right outside the door. Plus, you’re wearing a tux, so you have to navigate all the suspenders and everything.” Believe me ladies, it’s not a party.
Myers also spent some time discussing the breakout meme of the WHCD incident, the man nicknamed the “Salad Man,” who continued to eat while everyone around him hit the roof and hid under tables. “The new meme just dropped,” he said. “Remember that guy who was mowing his lawn in front of the hurricane? We should add ‘salad guy.’ Or we can update that it’s all right, dog. That’s unbelievable. Everyone’s diving under the tables. My man’s going to town on his burrata salad, not just any burrata salad, or burrata salad in the hotel hall.”
But much of Myers’ comments were reserved for Trump, who resorted to using the shooting to justify the White House ballroom, which is still under construction. After showing some news clips of Trump talking about the security features of his dance floor, Myers quipped, “This is the first time I’ve ever heard that it’s a safe dance floor. All I heard was how big and beautiful it was going to be, but now we’re moving to a safe place, and I get that. When you want something as badly as you want your dance floor, you do what you can.”
Myers also focused on Trump’s insistence in media reports and interviews that the ballroom was “militarily top secret.” “I have to ask, what do you mean by that?” Myers said. “This event would never have happened with the militarily top-secret ballroom. What do you mean top-secret? You talk about it all the time. That’s the opposite of top-secret. I’ve literally put up poster boards bearing designs of the hall that you claim is top-secret. This is militarily top-secret in the same way a stealth bomber would be if he were pulling out a banner that said ‘Invisible Airplane.’
Myers also touched on the precarious job security of FBI Director Kash Patel, who is facing greater pressure than ever after a series of missteps at the agency and a number of news reports alleging unprofessional behavior and alcohol issues on Patel’s part. “I have never been less shocked at the prospect of a shooting, nor was I so shocked when I heard that I continued eating my burrata salad,” he said.
He ended the segment by asserting that the events at WHCD were “unacceptable.” “Political violence is unacceptable. It has no place in any functioning democracy,” Myers said. “It would be great if our politicians could lead by example and offer solutions to keep all Americans safe. Instead, the president and his party seem focused on telling the world about his top-secret militarized ballroom.”
