NBC’s Seth Meyers claimed on Wednesday’s episode of Late Night that President Trump’s Tuesday address to Congress bored him, but despite that, he claimed that it was “deeply offensive” for Trump to refer to Massachusetts Senator and fake Native American Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas.” Speaking of Massachusetts, Meyers would later welcome Gov. Maura Healey to the show to urge Democrats to do more to fight back against Trump and sing the virtues of DEI.
Meyers began his recap of Trump’s speech by recalling, “Of all the things I've said about Donald Trump over the years, you know, and I've said a lot. I've called him weird, racist, weird, fascist, weird, stupid, weird, a liar, weird, a moron, weird, and a weird weirdo who's weirdly weird… Of all the things I said about Donald Trump, I never thought I would also call him boring. But guys, this speech, it was boring.”
When it came to Rep. Al Green being booted from the House chamber for lack of decorum, Meyers wasn’t having it, “Also, can we please cool it with the whole wither decorum dance? This guy changed the game, and these are the new rules. He literally called Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas again last night, which is both deeply offensive and a film that is 20 minutes shorter than the speech last night.”
That is the pattern for the late night shows: the joke about Democratic misbehavior is the Republican reaction, not the misbehavior itself. Still, Meyers tried to paint Republicans as hypocrites on the issue while claiming Democratic unprofessionalism is better than Republican unprofessionalism:
I know we all long for the days when everyone was civil and polite, but we live here now. Lest I remind pearl clutching-Republicans of the multiple times Joe Biden's speeches were interrupted by protests from Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, at least Al Green was interrupting last night to protect Medicaid, unlike Marjorie Taylor Greene who was demanding to know, you know, where are you hiding the dalmatians?
Later, Meyers asked Healey, “I mean, most of it was him reflecting back on both his election victory and what he's accomplished in the last, whatever, 43 days. Not a lot of planning ahead. And yet, as you watch it, you know, you can be outraged by it, but it sort of was, I think, maybe exactly what anybody could expect. Would you say that?”
Healey affirmed Meyers’s version of events, “Yeah, absolutely. There's no plan. There's no articulation of a vision for this country in a meaningful way.”
Meyers also sought to plot strategy with Healey, “I think it's early days and you might say that the right path forward is to let Donald Trump do what he's going to do and then find a response to it based on his actions. But do you feel as though the Democratic Party is at this point—has any plan?”
Again, Healey agreed, “I mean, look. It's frustrating for me to see some of what's gone on the last few weeks because I think it's important for people to speak up, people in leadership, members of Congress. Get out to your districts, stand alongside folks in your districts, and listen to them about what they're experiencing and also educate them about, like, what these cuts mean.”
Meyers also praised Healey for not running away from DEI:
In the aftermath of the election, there was a bit of a retreat from the Democratic Party on some issues as well. Or the concession that they were no longer going to be issues for Democrats. You stood up recently for DEI. Basically, I heard you in an interview say, like, "What are—what is so wrong about the ideas of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?" And that, to me, was refreshing to hear because, look, I think you can have, sometimes, criticism on the way those ideas are executed. But the core idea of DEI, I think, is something worth standing up for.
Healey replied by trying to claim that DEI just means allowing women to play sports in school, “Yeah. I totally agree. And look, I am the product of Title IX, which was the federal law passed in 1971, '72, it's around the time I was born, actually, that said people have got to be treated—treated equally when it comes to education. You know, that enabled me to go to school. And it enabled me to play sports. It enabled me to have a professional career, actually, in sports.”
She added, “We need to have women at the table. In schools, in the military, in business, in government. We need to have people of color. We need to have people with disabilities. We need to have gay people, right? Like, why is that bad for our country? And so, we need to get away from this caricature that's been made of DEI. Say the actual words. Tell me what's wrong with diversity, you know? It's only made us stronger as a country.”
Meyers didn’t realize Healey contradicted herself. Allowing women to play sports in college, just like men, is not the same as saying we need to put people in certain jobs simply because they are a woman or gay or a racial minority.
Here is a transcript for the March 5-taped show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
3/6/2025
12:41 PM ET
SETH MEYERS: Let me tell you, of all the things I've said about Donald Trump over the years, you know, and I've said a lot. I've called him weird, racist, weird, fascist, weird, stupid, weird, a liar, weird, a moron, weird, and a weird weirdo who's weirdly weird. I even have a new children's book called about Trump in the NBC store called Where's Weirdo. You can find it in the free bin right next to Dwight Schrute's cookbooks. Of all the things I said about Donald Trump, I never thought I would also call him boring. But guys, this speech, it was boring.
…
Also, can we please cool it with the whole wither decorum dance? This guy changed the game, and these are the new rules. He literally called Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas again last night, which is both deeply offensive and a film that is 20 minutes shorter than the speech last night.
I know we all long for the days when everyone was civil and polite, but we live here now. Lest I remind pearl clutching-Republicans of the multiple times Joe Biden's speeches were interrupted by protests from Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, at least Al Green was interrupting last night to protect Medicaid, unlike Marjorie Taylor Greene who was demanding to know, you know, where are you hiding the dalmatians? Or how about the time she showed up in full MAGA gear causing Biden's eyes to nearly pop out of his head.
…
MEYERS: Do you — I mean, weirdly, not a lot was said. I mean, most of it was him reflecting back on both his election victory and what he's accomplished in the last, whatever, 43 days. Not a lot of planning ahead. And yet, as you watch it, you know, you can be outraged by it, but it sort of was, I think, maybe exactly what anybody could expect. Would you say that?
MAURA HEALEY: Yeah, absolutely. There's no plan. There's no articulation of a vision for this country in a meaningful way. And I think what really bothers me, Seth, as a governor, you know, every day I'm trying to deliver for folks in my state. How do I lower costs? How do I build homes? How do I make sure they have access to health care and good schools?
And he — I didn't hear him say anything about the needs of everyday Americans and how he's going to do, like, any of those things. And that's one of the things that's so upsetting to me in addition to the continued recitation of all these lies and conspiracy theories that he told. But it's the idea is, like, you're the president of the United States. Your job is to deliver for Americans. You ran on a promise of lowering costs. And all you've done is make life harder and more expensive for people in Massachusetts and around the country.
…
MEYERS: I think it's early days and you might say that the right path forward is to let Donald Trump do what he's going to do and then find a response to it based on his actions. But do you feel as though the Democratic Party is at this point — has any plan?
HEALEY: People need to be active.
MEYERS: Yeah.
HEALEY: I mean, look. It's frustrating for me to see some of what's gone on the last few weeks because I think it's important for people to speak up, people in leadership, members of Congress. Get out to your districts, stand alongside folks in your districts, and listen to them about what they're experiencing and also educate them about, like, what these cuts mean. You know, what this guy, Musk, is doing with DOGE, right? Which I think even if you voted for Trump, I don't know how many people voted for the chainsaw, right?
MEYERS: Yeah.
HEALEY: And the complete wrecking ball, right, that he is. So, that's where people got to be. And that's been my frustration. It's like, you know, you've got to get with people. The reason the Democrats lost is because the feeling, I think, was we weren't with people. We weren't empathizing with people.
We weren't recognizing everyday needs. Now is the time to run headlong into that, talk about these things, educate, and show them, too, how we are going to actually deliver. I cut taxes in my state. I'm working on lower costs every day. Massachusetts was just ranked number one in education, health care, innovation. Also ranked the best place to live if you're a woman or to have a baby. So, cool stuff, right?
MEYERS: Good things. Those are all good things.
HEALEY Good things. Yeah. And we're gonna — I hope we win another championship too with the Celtics.
MEYERS: Yeah. I would like to see the Celtics win another championship myself. I also — I also appreciated that — 'cause I think in the, you know, in the aftermath of the election, there was a bit of a retreat from the Democratic Party on some issues as well. Or the concession that they were no longer going to be issues for Democrats. You stood up recently for DEI. Basically, I heard you in an interview say, like, "What are — what is so wrong about the ideas of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?" And that, to me, was refreshing to hear because, look, I think you can have, sometimes, criticism on the way those ideas are executed. But the core idea of DEI, I think, is something worth standing up for.
HEALEY: Yeah. I totally agree. And look, I am the product of Title IX, which was the federal law passed in 1971, '72, it's around the time I was born, actually, that said people have got to be treated — treated equally when it comes to education. You know, that enabled me to go to school. And it enabled me to play sports. It enabled me to have a professional career, actually, in sports.
And I sure would not be governor today were there not in place laws that said, you know what? We need to have women at the table. In schools, in the military, in business, in government. We need to have people of color. We need to have people with disabilities. We need to have gay people, right? Like, why is that bad for our country? And so, we need to get away from this caricature that's been made of DEI. Say the actual words. Tell me what's wrong with diversity, you know? It's only made us stronger as a country.
