As a result of taking two weeks off in the middle of the month, NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers missed Rep. Katie Porter’s initial book tour/Senate campaign announcement. To remedy this, Porter stopped by for Tuesday’s show where the duo piled on Tucker Carlson, hyped Biden 2024, and lamented that the Senate’s “arcane” rules are making life difficult for Democrats.
Meyers kicked things off with a heavy dose of sarcasm, “I want to get your reaction to the Tucker Carlson news, I know that was a show you had always dreamed of being a guest on and now –”
Being an expert of toxic and dysfunction relationships, Porter observed, “I mean, look, you know, he is sliding down the rung of networks and, you know, one of my favorite sayings is, the only common factor in your dysfunctional relationships is you… And I think we can say that about Tucker and his networks…. and I think the other conclusion I come to is just, you know, you come for the green m&m, you're going down.”
Meyers then changed topics, “We have big news today, our president announced that he is running for re-election and now do you feel about what seems – and again, it's early, 18 months – it might potentially be a Biden-Trump rematch?”
Porter portrayed Biden as maybe not the flashiest president, but an effective one:
This is not a president who is going to win because he has the thickest hair, right? Or the snazziest shoes. This is a president who is going to run on -- hold it -- actual accomplishments that make our lives better and so, he's going to -- you know, he's going to run on $35 insulin. He's going to run on, hopefully, my being able to afford a new dishwasher, that's why I'm voting for him. Those Inflation Reduction Act credits, right he's going to run on real accomplishments: bringing manufacturing jobs back here, making sure that people can afford health care, so I think he's going to have an easy time with Trump but it's going to be hard on all of us to have to listen to him deal with Trump again.
Telling people they should vote for Biden because he made refrigerators more affordable is the kind of comedy that the late night shows are often missing. As for Meyers, later on in the eight minute interview, he would lament Democrats’ ability to confirm judges is being curtailed at the moment:
You're angling for a new chapter in your political career, you're running for Senate to replace Dianne Feinstein. There's currently -- very exciting-- she's currently has some health issues she's not actually in the Senate right now and being on the Judiciary Committee, her absence has slowed down President Biden's ability to confirm judges. Obviously, this has a lot more to do with the arcane rules of Congress than anything else. Is that -- would your solution to this problem be changing those rules?
Porter would naturally say it was and proceed to condemn the replacing Feinstein on the Judiciary Committee is not easy, the Senate’s unanimous consent rule, and the filibuster.
This segment was sponsored by Arby’s.
Here is a transcript for the April 25-taped show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
4/26/2023
1:12 AM ET
MEYERS: I want to get your reaction to the Tucker Carlson news, I know that was a show you had always dreamed of being a guest on and now –
KATIE PORTER: It’s never going to happen.
MEYERS: Never going to happen
PORTER: I mean, look, you know, he is sliding down the rung of networks and, you know, one of my favorite sayings is, the only common factor in your dysfunctional relationships is you.
MEYERS: That’s a very good—yeah.
PORTER: And I think we can say that about Tucker and his networks.
MEYERS: Yeah, he has now gone through three different cable networks.
PORTER: Three different cable networks and I think the other conclusion I come to is just, you know, you come for the green m&m, you're going down.
MEYERS: That’s exactly-- the green m&m is always the last m&m standing.
We have big news today, our president announced that he is running for re-election and now do you feel about what seems – and again, it's early, 18 months – it might potentially be a Biden-Trump rematch?
PORTER: Yeah, I mean, look, President Biden has so much to run on affirmatively. Not just -- this is not a president who is going to win because he has the thickest hair, right? Or the snazziest shoes. This is a president who is going to run on -- hold it -- actual accomplishments that make our lives better and so, he's going to -- you know, he's going to run on $35 insulin. He's going to run on, hopefully, my being able to afford a new dishwasher, that's why I'm voting for him. Those Inflation Reduction Act credits, right he's going to run on real accomplishments: bringing manufacturing jobs back here, making sure that people can afford health care, so I think he's going to have an easy time with Trump but it's going to be hard on all of us to have to listen to him deal with Trump again.
MEYERS: I think that’s a very nice way of framing it.
…
MEYERS: You're angling for a new chapter in your political career, you're running for Senate to replace Dianne Feinstein. There's currently -- very exciting-- she's currently has some health issues she's not actually in the Senate right now and being on the Judiciary Committee, her absence has slowed down President Biden's ability to confirm judges. Obviously, this has a lot more to do with the arcane rules of Congress than anything else. Is that -- would your solution to this problem be changing those rules?
PORTER: Yes, so look, I mean, we're going to have people who are going to get sick who are going to need medical care. John Fetterman, Senator Fetterman, needed medical care, we're going to have people have children, we're going to have people, you know, need time off and we have no policies for any of that. So as every other workplace has adapted and figured this out, Congress has not and so, I think that's really the way to think about-- this is an institutional problem.
By the way, the House has a different rule. In the House, if you don't show up and they want to replace you, they can just replace you, which is something I think about every day when I decide whether I'm going to behave or not, but the Senate needs, apparently-- apparently, we come to learn, unanimous consent. So, I think this is just like the filibuster. It's a bad rule of procedure that's now gumming up our government's ability to do anything.
