On Monday’s installment of Late Night on NBC, left-wing host Seth Meyers freaked out over Fox’s Maria Bartiromo accurately pointing out that despite all the rhetoric coming from President Biden, he is still partnering with Vladimir Putin on significant issues. Of course, Meyers never actually refuted the claim.
Teeing up a clip of Bartiromo’s Saturday show, Meyers declared that during the war in Ukraine, “right-wing pundits have become increasingly unhinged in their conspiracy theories about the war and Biden's response. Over the weekend, Fox host Maria Bartiromo, one of the most pro-Trump voices on TV, suggested that it was Joe Biden who saw Vladimir Putin as a partner and didn't want to confront him.”
The clip then showed Bartiromo explaining:
Some people have told me over the weekend that they feel that at the end of the day, this administration does not see Putin as the enemy, they see him as a partner on many issues. They see him as a partner on climate change, they see him as a partner on -- on the Iran deal. When is this administration going to get serious in telling Vladimir Putin we are done with partnerships? That means no Iran deal, walk away, no more renegotiating on America's behalf, no more products from Russia.
Both of those examples are true and could be verified by simply following the news. Climate envoy John Kerry infamously said he hoped the war would not prohibit cooperation on climate change and Russia has played a significant role in the Iran deal negotiations.
Instead of refuting those obvious points, Meyers mocked the idea that Biden hasn’t banned Russian products:
No more products? We've already banned Russian oil, vodka, diamonds, and seafood. I mean, what else is there? No more products from Russia. No more Russian ballet, no more Russian salad dressing, and no more of those little Russian dolls Biden keeps saying he's going to ban them, but then every time you open one up, there's another one inside when -- when does it end, Joe?
He then focused on the beginning of Bartiromo’s remarks, “Some people have told me over the weekend.”
According to Meyers, such talk “is how you know you're about to hear some bull[bleep].” After calling such talk “gossip,” Meyers was reduced to complaining about former President Trump:
But what on Earth are you talking about? You think Biden sees Putin as a partner? First of all, Trump is the one who called Putin's invasion of Ukraine savvy and genius, and desperately lavishes praise on Putin every chance he gets Trump was clearly the one who saw Putin as a partner, although I'm not sure Putin felt the same way. Based on Putin's face when they were together, Putin saw Trump as a competitor who was way too easy to outsmart. Putin always had the smile of a spelling bee contestant after the other kid got a super hard word.”
Those who can’t debate, deflect, and that’s what Meyers just did.
This segment was sponsored by E-Trade.
Here is a transcript of the March 14 show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
3/15/2022
12:43 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: But this fringe, paranoid thinking is not unique to the 2020 election, as we've discovered during Russia's horrific invasion of Ukraine, right-wing pundits have become increasingly unhinged in their conspiracy theories about the war and Biden's response. Over the weekend, Fox host Maria Bartiromo, one of the most pro-Trump voices on TV, suggested that it was Joe Biden who saw Vladimir Putin as a partner and didn't want to confront him.
MARIA BARTIROMO: Some people have told me over the weekend that they feel that at the end of the day, this administration does not see Putin as the enemy, they see him as a partner on many issues. They see him as a partner on climate change, they see him as a partner on -- on the Iran deal. When is this administration going to get serious in telling Vladimir Putin we are done with partnerships? That means no Iran deal, walk away, no more renegotiating on America's behalf, no more products from Russia.
MEYERS: No more products? We've already banned Russian oil, vodka, diamonds, and seafood. I mean, what else is there? "No more products from Russia. No more Russian ballet, no more Russian salad dressing, and no more of those little Russian dolls Biden keeps saying he's going to ban them, but then every time you open one up, there's another one inside when--when--does it end, Joe?” Let's just go back to this part for a minute.
BARTIROMO: Some people have told me over the weekend --
MEYERS All right that sentence right there is how you know you're about to hear some bull[ bleep ] First of all, you're kicking things off with some unsourced weekend gossip that's how my writers start off their Monday morning excuses, "Some people over the weekend told me that if you smash two edibles together, they cancel each other out, but I think they were wrong, and that's why I'm late and all my clothes are wet and wait, these aren't my clothes.
But what on Earth are you talking about? You think Biden sees Putin as a partner? First of all, Trump is the one who called Putin's invasion of Ukraine savvy and genius, and desperately lavishes praise on Putin every chance he gets Trump was clearly the one who saw Putin as a partner, although I'm not sure Putin felt the same way. Based on Putin's face when they were together, Putin saw Trump as a competitor who was way too easy to outsmart. Putin always had the smile of a spelling bee contestant after the other kid got a super hard word.
"Your word is insouciant." "Insouciant. We love insouciant, don't we, people we love it it's a great word. We love it because it starts with an I. We know that and then right after that comes the N, and at that point, at that point, you've basically spelled it. You, and isn't that enough? I feel like, can we just leave it there and get full credit?" [ Buzzer ] And they can't even seem to keep their conspiracy theories straight one day, Biden supposedly sees Putin as a partner, and then next, they claim Biden somehow orchestrated this whole thing as a way to continue accumulating power as COVID subsides.
