Seth Meyers Takes Trump to Task For Opposing Peaceful Athlete Protests

“President” Donald Trump—boy, even with the quotes, that is a nightmare to type—spent his weekend getting owned by the entire world of sports, and Seth Meyers dedicated his latest “Closer Look” segment to flaming the manchild-in-chief even further.

Meyers begins by replaying Trump’s inciting comments, which were boorish and inflammatory even by his piteously low standards. At a rally in Huntsville, Ala., Trump called for NFL players who peacefully protest police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem to be fired, then personally took credit for the league’s lower ratings. You know … Trump stuff. And rather than focusing on his party’s swiftly evaporating hopes of repealing and replacing Obamacare, or the massive humanitarian disaster unfolding in Hurricane Maria-ravaged Puerto Rico, Trump decided instead to double down on his comments, tweeting out more idiocy and inspiring athlete after athlete to (figuratively) dunk on him. LeBron James’ anti-Trump tweet was particularly wonderful, and quickly became one of the most-shared tweets of all time as a result.

U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!

— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 23, 2017

At the center of all Trump’s grandstanding jackassery is a malignant core of hypocrisy and racism. “When black athletes peacefully protest racism and police brutality, Trump has no trouble summoning his outrage,” Meyers points out. “But when white supremacists march with Nazi flags and Confederate flags through the streets of an American city, he equivocates and then defends them.” The host also notes that the anti-kneeling argument that “ungrateful” multi-millionaire athletes are wrong to protest oppression is utter bunk: Players like Colin Kaepernick use their platforms to stand up for those whose voices would otherwise go unheard.

Near the end of the segment, Meyers cedes the spotlight to Late Night writer Amber Ruffin, who unleashes a glorious few minutes of righteous anger on Trump. “If you have a problem with black people loudly protesting and silently protesting, then what you have a problem with is black people,” Ruffin says. Bingo.

Meyers closes things out the only way he could have: by echoing NFL running back LeSean McCoy in saying, “Our president is an asshole.”

Watch the entire segment above, and find our breakdown of Trump vs. sports here.