During an interview with Chuck Todd on MSNBC Thursday afternoon, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she was “flattered” that President Donald Trump had denounced “socialism” in his State of the Union speech, drawing audible boos from the Republican side of the aisle.
“Wow, guys, you did it,” Seth Meyers said on Thursday’s Late Night. “You stopped socialism by booing it. It reminds me of Ronald Reagan’s famous line, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, boo this wall.’”
“At least they’re making real proposals like Medicare for All,” the host said of the Democrats. “You guys stole your best political argument from [The Muppets’] Statler and Waldorf.”
Hours before he made his insincere plea for bipartisanship, the president had an “off-the-record” sit-down with a number of prominent network anchors at the White House. According to leaked details, Trump called Chuck Schumer a “nasty son of a bitch,” Joe Biden “dumb” and even found a way to attack the late Sen. John McCain. But he only had flattering things to say about Ocasio-Cortez.
“While he was whining about socialism in public, Trump was also claiming in private that he had predicted the success of one of the most famous self-described Democratic Socialists of the new Congress,” Meyers said, explaining that the president said he knew Ocasio-Cortez had “it.”
“Oh, really?” the host asked. “You predicted that one of the most charismatic and internet-famous politicians in the country had star power? I wonder who else he brags about. ‘You know who I think is going places? Tom Hanks.’”
“Trump thinks he’s good at spotting star power because he thinks he has star power,” Meyers continued, “but when people say Trump has ‘it,’ that’s not what they mean.”
Evoking one of Chelsea Handler’s favorite conspiracy theories, Meyers put a photo of Trump and a doctor on the screen and said, “I’m sorry, but, it looks like you have it. And it has gone straight to your brain.”