Meyers Blames 'Too Many Guns,' Claims GOP Is 'Choosing To Make Things Worse'

Alex Christy
July 16th, 2024 12:52 PM

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Seth Meyers, NBC’s host of Late Night, solemnly reacted on Monday to the Saturday attempted assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump by appropriately denouncing political violence, but inappropriately blaming the situation on the lack of gun control in America and accusing Republicans of making things worse in the aftermath of the shooting.

During a monologue, Meyers urged gun control as a solution, “An attack that thankfully spared him but tragically, tragically killed one spectator and injured two others. I think it's important to say that the easy availability of dangerous weapons has made tragedies like this all too common. Schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, movie theaters, houses of worship, and now political rallies have all been infected by this scourge of everyday violence. We cannot accept that. There are too many guns. They're too easy to get. We must work to change that.”

 

 

After the shooting, some Republicans blamed Democrats for Saturday’s events, which deeply upset Meyers, “At a time when things are bad, you are choosing to make things worse. You are choosing to inflame the national mood at a dangerous moment rather than show the leadership and basic decency it would take to calm things down. You should be ashamed. Please stop.”

While it is true that the shooter’s motive remains unknown, Meyers did not want to look inward:

You’re also wrong. Engaging in the work of democracy and peaceful persuasion is the opposite of inciting violence. It's what we need more of, not less. Accurately describing the dangers of autocracy and warning of attempts to dismantle our democracy have nothing to do with political violence. Speaking plainly about the specter of authoritarianism is not only our democratic right, it's our civic duty. We must all continue to do it. That's where we will continue to do here on this show. We will keep talking about protecting democracy.

Elsewhere on the late night circuit, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest of the week, Anthony Anderson, recalled that, “a lot has been written about the attack, but the award for worst article about it goes to Forbes, who retracted this dumbass story: "Will surviving gunfire be Donald Trump's next appeal to black voters?" What? Getting shot at doesn't make you popular in the black community. If it did, then the most famous man in the hood would be Liam Neeson.”

 

 

That would have been an even better joke if Anderson and ABC had not cropped out the information that the author of that article, Shaun Harper, did not have “I am a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) expert” written underneath his byline.

Anderson moved on to add, “Today [Trump] chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Vance has everything Trump is looking for in a running mate. He's white, he's—well, that's pretty much it. He also looks like Eric and Don Jr. had a baby.”

CBS’s Stephen Colbert was more appropriate than Meyers, at least initially, “I'm old enough that one of my earliest memories is sitting in a dark room with my sister watching my parents' little black and white TV, and seeing Bobby Kennedy's coffin on that slow train from New York down to Washington. And whether the result of extremist politics or mental illness, that violence is with us still.”

 

 

He added, “Our job, as American citizens, is to reject violence and violent rhetoric in this time of crisis, however hard we fight for our ideas. And in that regard, not only is violence evil, it is useless. As I quoted when Representative Scalise was shot, "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Violence or even calls for violence invalidate any ideas.” 

Unfortunately, Colbert would later welcome former Rep. Adam Kinzinger to suggest Trump could help turn down the temperature by stepping down and that January 6 means any talk of left-wing violence is nonsense.

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, somehow, did not even mention the assassination attempt. Fallon was scheduled to have MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Tuesday’s edition of The Tonight Show, but that appears to have changed. Such a move looks especially odd after MSNBC’s decision to yank Morning Joe off the air on Monday out of fear someone would say something stupid. Finally, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show did not air on Monday after ultimately deciding to return to New York, citing "logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee."

Here are transcripts for the July-15 taped shows:

NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers

7/16/2024

12:38 AM ET

SETH MEYERS: An attack that thankfully spared him but tragically, tragically killed one spectator and injured two others. I think it's important to say that the easy availability of dangerous weapons has made tragedies like this all too common. Schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, movie theaters, houses of worship, and now political rallies have all been infected by this scourge of everyday violence. We cannot accept that. There are too many guns. They're too easy to get. We must work to change that.

…

At a time when things are bad, you are choosing to make things worse. You are choosing to inflame the national mood at a dangerous moment rather than show the leadership and basic decency it would take to calm things down. You should be ashamed. Please stop. You’re also wrong. Engaging in the work of democracy and peaceful persuasion is the opposite of inciting violence. 

It's what we need more of, not less. Accurately describing the dangers of autocracy and warning of attempts to dismantle our democracy have nothing to do with political violence. Speaking plainly about the specter of authoritarianism is not only our democratic right, it's our civic duty. We must all continue to do it. That's where we will continue to do here on this show. We will keep talking about protecting democracy. We will keep telling jokes if for no other reason than we already paid the license this picture of Rudy Giuliani for the rest of the year.

***

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!

7/15/2024

11:38 PM ET

ANTHONY ANDERSON: Now, a lot has been written about the attack, but the award for worst article about it goes to Forbes, who retracted this dumbass story: "Will surviving gunfire be Donald Trump's next appeal to black voters?" What? Getting shot at doesn't make you popular in the black community. If it did, then the most famous man in the hood would be Liam Neeson. 

I mean, no one gets shot at more than that dude. He's the Irish 50 Cent. Speaking of 50, 50 would have been a good running mate for Trump, but instead, today he chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Vance has everything Trump is looking for in a running mate. He's white, he's—

 well, that's pretty much it. He also looks like Eric and Don Jr. had a baby.

***

CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

7/15/2024

11:36 PM ET

STEPHEN COLBERT: My immediate reaction when I saw this on Saturday were horror at what was unfolding, relief that Donald Trump had lived, and frankly grief for my beautiful country, and then fresh horror as we learned that attendees had also been shot, one of whom died at the rally. So, as we've done many times in the past when some tragic event has shocked the nation, I'm starting the show tonight talking at the desk, though I just could easily start the show moaning on the floor, because how many times do we need to learn the lesson that violence has no role in our politics, that the entire objective of a democracy is to fight out our differences with, as the saying goes, "Ballot, not a bullet"?

Now, right after the attack, a young friend of mine, he texted me, saying "How is this happening in America in 2024?" And I understood his shock, but I'm old enough that one of my earliest memories is sitting in a dark room with my sister watching my parents' little black and white TV, and seeing Bobby Kennedy's coffin on that slow train from New York down to Washington. And whether the result of extremist politics or mental illness, that violence is with us still, from the shooting of a GOP baseball practice that seriously injured Steve Scalise, to the plot to kidnap and kill governor Gretchen Whitmer, to the hammer attack that nearly killed Paul Pelosi, to the horrors of January 6th, to this most recent attack. 

And the man who fired the shots seems to have conflicted and confusing motivations, by the standards of today's stark left and right divide: someone barely out of boyhood who reportedly donated to a Democratic group in 2021, then registered as a Republican that same year. So, we may never understand his motivation, nor is that necessarily our job. Our job, as American citizens, is to reject violence and violent rhetoric in this time of crisis, however hard we fight for our ideas. And in that regard, not only is violence evil, it is useless. As I quoted when Representative Scalise was shot, "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Violence or even calls for violence invalidate any ideas.

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