On Monday’s edition of The Late Show, NBC’s Seth Meyers admitted that he sees his show as an avenue to advance progressive priorities. On Tuesday, he backed that claim up by turning to writer Amber Ruffin to celebrate Democratic election wins while mourning victories for the GOP.
Meyers introduced the segment, “that, we don't always have enough time to cover all of the recent news, so here to recap is one of our writers, Amber Ruffin, in a segment we call "Amber says what."
The joke being that Ruffin literally says “what” over and over, just in different tones of voice. Beginning her monologue, Ruffin explained, “You guys, things have been crazy. Okay first of all, the midterms were last week, and the whole nation was like, “whaaaaaaaaaaaat?” but then the red wave didn't come, and we were like ‘what?’ The whole thing was bananas.”
After lamenting Marjorie Taylor Greene’s win and Stacey Abrams’s loss, Ruffin turned to a confused tone to add, “And then the race between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker was too close to call, and I was like, ‘what?’”
She simply could not believe that somebody might prefer Walker to Warnock, “For the first time, I was like maybe there is voter fraud because there is no way someone would want to give this man an ounce of power. If you put this man in charge of Georgia, he's only going to get it pregnant, take it to another state, and get it an abortion.”
Switching to Pennsylvanian schadenfreude, Ruffin continued, “And then even though she's the one who made him famous, Oprah said to not vote for Dr. Oz, and I was like ‘what?’ Girl, she created him, and then he lost his mind, so she had to stop him so, remember, don't call him Winfrey, call him Winfrey's monster.”
Now in a cheerful mood, Ruffin added, “Then I found out that 25-year-old Maxwell Frost got elected to Congress, and I was like, ‘Go ahead, Gen Z, what-what?’ And he was like, ‘No one says what-what anymore.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, dang, children.’”
Moving on, an excited Ruffin explained “Then I heard the GOP is turning away from Trump, and I was like, ‘what?’ only to see that excitement turn to disappointment, “But then I found out that they're turning towards Ron DeSantis, and I was like, ‘what?’”
After making fun of an unflattering photo of Trump and DeSantis’s faces, Ruffin turned to climate alarmism, “Then -- and this is real -- the United Nations climate change conference ran out of food and water. I was like, ‘what?’ You know damn well that is too on the nose. That is like a Taco Bell conference running out of farts.”
At the same time Late Night ran out of laughs.
This segment as sponsored by McDonald’s.
Here is a transcript for the November 15th-taped show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
11/16/2022
12:42 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: But before we get to that, we don't always have enough time to cover all of the recent news, so here to recap is one of our writers, Amber Ruffin, in a segment we call "Amber says what."
AMBER RUFFIN: You guys, things have been crazy. Okay first of all, the midterms were last week, and the whole nation was like, “whaaaaaaaaaaaat?” but then the red wave didn't come, and we were like, “what?” The whole thing was bananas.
Okay so Marjorie Taylor Greene won, and I was like, “what?” Then Stacey Abrams lost, and I was like, “what?” And then the race between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker was too close to call, and I was like, “what?”
For the first time, I was like maybe there is voter fraud because there is no way someone would want to give this man an ounce of power.
If you put this man in charge of Georgia, he's only going to get it pregnant, take it to another state, and get it an abortion.
Oh, no I'm too late, aw, that's at least six months right there. And then even though she's the one who made him famous, Oprah said to not vote for Dr. Oz, and I was like “what?”
Girl, she created him, and then he lost his mind, so she had to stop him so, remember, don't call him Winfrey, call him Winfrey's monster. Then I found out that 25-year-old Maxwell Frost got elected to Congress, and I was like, "Go ahead, Gen Z, what-what?” And he was like, "No one says what-what anymore.” And I was like, "Okay, dang, children."
Then I heard the GOP is turning away from Trump, and I was like, “what?” But then I found out that they're turning towards Ron DeSantis, and I was like, “what?”
Ron DeSantis is the new face of the GOP? Let me get this straight, you went from this face to this face. You're bad at faces. Then -- and this is real -- the United Nations climate change conference ran out of food and water. I was like, “what?” You know damn well that is too on the nose. That is like a Taco Bell conference running out of farts.
