Late-night TV roundup: Kellyanne Conway is a 'truth scarecrow'

Extract from The Guardian

Comics, including Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah, discussed Trump’s counselor, his criticism of the judiciary system and his apparent lack of competency

Seth Meyers on Donald Trump: ‘It’s easy to surprise people if you just make shit up.’ Photograph: YouTube

Guardian staff

Saturday 11 February 2017 03.27 AEDT 

Late-night hosts took aim at Donald Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway last night, referring to her as a “truth scarecrow”.

Conway, who expressed her distaste for the former reality star before joining his team, was under fire for promoting Ivanka Trump’s clothing line on Fox News this week, violating ethics rules.
On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah joked about her aggressive selling tactics, in comparison with what we had been promised about the separation of politics and business.
“I love how in less than three weeks we’ve gone from ‘the presidency and Trump businesses are totally separate’ to ‘come on down to the White House and buy, buy, buy’,” he said.
He referred to Conway as a “truth scarecrow” and also noted that Trump’s tweet criticising Nordstrom had led to their stock actually going up.

“From now on, every company is going to start claiming they’ve stopped selling Ivanka products, even if they don’t have them,” he said.
He also brought up Melania’s recent lawsuit that her lawyers claimed was about protecting her reputation. “Melania wants to sue a newspaper because her reputation is damaged?” he said. “Fuck the newspaper, sue your pussy-grabbing husband.”
Noah also questioned the ethics of Trump reportedly leasing space within Trump Tower to the military. “Trump’s going to be spending such little time at the White House, I wouldn’t be surprised if he listed it on Airbnb,” he said.
He took a jab at Trump’s furious tweet after the travel ban block was upheld. “I love how he says see you in court like this wasn’t decided in court,” he said. “Like the judges are like: ‘who is this idiot, does he not know where we are?’”

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about Trump’s criticism of the judiciary system, referring to a tweet in which he ridiculed the “so-called judge” who put a stop on his travel ban.
“Of course, being from reality TV, Trump doesn’t consider someone a real judge unless they’re sitting next to Howie Mandel,” he said.
He also spoke of the president’s jabs against Senator Richard Blumenthal, who has reportedly been told by Trump’s supreme court pick, Neil Gorsuch, that he found Trump’s attack on a judge to be demoralizing. Trump responded by bringing up Blumenthal’s falsehoods over his time serving in Vietnam.

“If I were Trump, I wouldn’t bring up Vietnam,” he said. “Because even though he went to military school and knows more than the generals, he was granted five draft deferments, including one for bone spurs in his heels. Trump’s tragic Nam story is captured in the film Apocalypse Ow.”
On Late Night with Seth Meyers, the comic examined the timing of Trump’s Nordstrom tweet, noting that it came just 21 minutes after he was supposed to be in his daily intelligence briefing.

“I feel like the president’s daily intelligence briefing should take longer than an episode of Vanderpump Rules,” he said.
He also ridiculed Conway’s tactics regarding Ivanka Trump’s clothing line: “From now on, the only network Kellyanne Conway should be allowed on is QVC.”
He went on to bring up Trump’s repeated assertion that America is experiencing its worst crime rate in 47 years, a figure that is wrong and one that the president says causes shock every time he repeats it. “It’s easy to surprise people if you just make shit up,” he said.
Finally, in reference to Trump’s repeated use of the word on social media, he pleaded: “Please stop using the word ‘haters’. You’re the president of the United States, not a B-list rapper.”