In the middle of Seth Meyers’ “A Closer Look” segment Monday night, which covered President Donald Trump’s defense of Roy Moore and last-ditch effort to pass the GOP’s tax bill, the Late Night host delivered a surprisingly harsh assessment of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Meyers, who was struggling through a post-Thanksgiving cold, brought up Pelosi’s widely criticized appearance on Meet the Press this past Sunday. As Meyers put it, her answer to Chuck Todd’s question about the sexual harassment allegations against Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) was “shockingly tone-deaf.”
“We are strengthened by due process,” Pelosi said in the interview, before adding, “Just because someone is accused—and is it one accusation, is it two? John Conyers is an icon in our country. He’s done a great deal to protect women.” She said she trusts the congressman to “do the right thing” but did not call on him to resign his seat.
“No!” Meyers responded. “He’s in this position because he allegedly did the wrong thing. You can’t say that guy who did the wrong will do the right thing.”
“Also, it doesn’t matter that he’s an icon,” he continued. “If anything, it makes it worse. ‘I’m an icon’ is like a sexual harasser’s catchphrase. ‘Hey, I know you haven’t consented to any of this, but I am an icon.’”
With those words, the photos of Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Charlie Rose, and Bill O’Reilly appeared on the screen.