NBC’s Seth Meyers is not happy at the idea that the Supreme Court might overturn Roe v. Wade and used Wednesday’s Late Night to express his displeasure the Court “is on the verge of erasing a woman's right to bodily autonomy.”
For Meyers, Republicans are busy distracting with irrelevant non-issues such as intimidation tactics and the identity of whoever leaked Justice Alito’s draft opinion: “Of course, Susan Collins claims she's pro-choice, but in reality, she and her fellow Republicans would much rather spend their time freaking out about polite chalk messages or the identity of the person who leaked the Supreme Court opinion than the actual substance of what's happening -- that the Supreme Court is on the verge of erasing a woman's right to bodily autonomy, and that states are already pushing forward with severe new restrictions on reproductive rights.”
As for the leaker, Meyers claimed “it seems very possible a conservative leaked the draft opinion to freeze the majority in place.”
Meyers still fails to understand that conservatives are not going to start celebrating a Roe reversal until a final decision is announced, “Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz have been insisting it must be a liberal in order to shift the story away from abortion rights and stay focused on the leak. Obviously, Cruz doesn't have any evidence, though.”
Cruz’s theory is much more plausible than Meyers’s, but Meyers tried to back up his claim with a clip of NPR’s Nina Totenberg, “There has never been a leak like this. It can only, in all likelihood, have come from a justice that, I think, is less likely. Perhaps one of the clerks, and the — the leading theory is a conservative clerk who was afraid that one of the conservatives might be persuaded by Chief Justice Roberts to join him in a much more moderate opinion.”
It isn’t the leading theory and just because the liberal Totenberg says something doesn’t make it true.
After playing a clip of Cruz telling a reporter that he believes the leaker to be a liberal “Because I'm not a moron. Because I live on planet Earth,” Meyers returned to add “Yeah, you might live here, but clearly you're not from here. I refuse to believe that voice is actually human. You sound like you swallowed a kazoo, and that beard definitely looks like a disguise you'd see in Men in Black.”
Insult comedy aside, Meyers again accused Republicans of distracting, “So we don't know who the leaker is. [ Coughs ] Ginni Thomas [ coughs ] But Republicans would much rather focus on the leak than the substance of the bill they blocked today, because preserving Roe v. Wade is massively popular.”
Wednesday’s Senate vote went beyond Roe by allowing for abortions anytime, anywhere, something less than 20% of Americans agree with. At the same time, Americans continue to support restrictions not permissible under Roe because people like Meyers do not tell them what Roe actually says.
This segment was sponsored by McDonald’s
Here is a transcript for the May 12 show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
5/12/2022
12:48 AM ET
SETH MEYERS: Of course, Susan Collins claims she's pro-choice, but in reality, she and her fellow Republicans would much rather spend their time freaking out about polite chalk messages or the identity of the person who leaked the Supreme Court opinion than the actual substance of what's happening - that the Supreme Court is on the verge of erasing a woman's right to bodily autonomy, and that states are already pushing forward with severe new restrictions on reproductive rights. Despite the fact that it seems very possible a conservative leaked the draft opinion to freeze the majority in place, Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz have been insisting it must be a liberal in order to shift the story away from abortion rights and stay focused on the leak. Obviously, Cruz doesn't have any evidence, though.
NINA TOTENBERG: There has never been a leak like this. It can only, in all likelihood, have come from a justice that, I think, is less likely. Perhaps one of the clerks, and the—the-- leading theory is a conservative clerk who was afraid that one of the conservatives might be persuaded by Chief Justice Roberts to join him in a much more moderate opinion.
FEMALE REPORTER: Senator, do you have –
MALE REPORTER: Why do you presume that this was a liberal clerk that leaked this. Do you have information that suggests that?
TED CRUZ: Because I'm not a moron. Because I live on planet Earth.
MEYERS: Yeah, you might live here, but clearly you're not from here. I refuse to believe that voice is actually human. You sound like you swallowed a kazoo, and that beard definitely looks like a disguise you'd see in Men in Black. "I'm—I’m-- simply asking why the Biden Administration refuses to do anything about the rising price of sugar water."
So we don't know who the leaker is. [ Coughs ] Ginni Thomas [ coughs ] But Republicans would much rather focus on the leak than the substance of the bill they blocked today, because preserving Roe v. Wade is massively popular. In fact, they're so desperate to distract from the fallout of what the Supreme Court is about to do that Cruz went on Fox News this week to claim, ludicrously, that protests against the Supreme Court's action were somehow worse than the violent coup attempt Trump and Cruz fomented on January 6th.
