Late-Night Hosts Mock Frantic Cable News Coverage of Rod Rosenstein: 'The Media Can't Help Themselves'
Cable news reporters couldn’t quite get their stories straight on Monday when it seemed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein might be exiting his job — and late-night TV hosts were happy to poke fun at the confusion.
In the wake of a New York Times article that said Rosenstein had suggested wearing a wire during conversations with President Trump, news coverage on Monday indicated that Trump would fire Rosenstein at the White House. Shortly thereafter, it was widely reported that Rosenstein planned to resign. Then, even later, it seemed Rosenstein would not leave his job at all, and his workday would continue as planned.
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah was among the late-night personalities to mock the puzzling coverage: “Breaking news: Robert Mueller’s boss, Rod Rosenstein, has been fired by Donald Trump. Or he resigned. Or he’s about to resign. Or both. Or neither. Either way, it’s breaking news.”
Noah then played a clip reel of multiple cable news anchors walking back their initial reports about Rosenstein and clarifying details about his non-firing.
“Thank you, news. I’m so informed now,” Noah joked. “You realize these people interrupted our day just to tell us that they don’t know what’s going on.”
Stephen Colbert also touched on the Rosenstein hullabaloo during Monday’s Late Show, specifically the news networks’ prolonged footage of a parked SUV that may or may not have been carrying Rosenstein to the White House for his potential firing.
“All the cable news channels began airing heart-stopping live footage of an SUV in a rainy White House driveway,” Colbert said. “It was the first-ever cable news car chase of a parked car.”
Late Night host Seth Meyers addressed the media’s Rosenstein coverage in his latest “Closer Look” segment (embedded at top of post), but he also expressed frustration at cable news correspondents for the way they’ve reported on another story: President Trump’s “disciplined” response to the sexual misconduct allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
“Oh my God, you guys. How can you keep falling for this ‘restrained Trump’ act after three years?” Meyers asked, joking that reporters are “like a monkey watching a magic trick, except the monkey would eventually catch on.”
Meyers then took on a more serious tone, acknowledging that “the media can’t help themselves” when it comes to praising Trump for behaving rationally.
“Hey, I get that they can’t help themselves to some degree,” Meyers said. “It can get repetitive for me coming out here every night and telling you the president’s a crazy idiot. But I’m not going to tell you he’s cured just for the f—king change of pace.”
Watch Monday’s late-night segments in the videos above, then hit the comments with your thoughts.
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