By now, everyone is aware of the tragic events that took place this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a White Nationalist protest turned ugly and left one woman dead and over twenty others injured. While President Donald Trump eventually came out and denounced Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists, his initial reaction didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence from the public and had some questioning his resolve when it comes to standing up to hate crimes and those who perpetrate such acts. Monday night marked the beginning of a new week in late night TV and, as you might expect, the mood was both solemn and hilariously cutting.
Let's start with NBC's flagship franchise, The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon, who was criticized for not being harder on Trump in his last interview with the now-President, set the tone by calling the actions of the protesters in Charlottesville "disgusting." "It's my responsibility to stand up against intolerance and extremism as a human being," Fallon added. "I was sick to my stomach. My daughters were in the next room playing and I'm thinking, 'How can I explain to them that there's so much hatred in this world?'" Fallon continued to broach the subject with his first guest Susan Sarandon, who talked about how America has to admit that incidents like this one are a "systemic problem."
Afterwards, Seth Meyers continued in much the same vein on Late Night. He opened with a similarly serious statement, saying that if Trump's initial choice of words on Saturday left you with a bit of a nauseous feeling, you're a "normal and decent person." He continued to attack the President in his popular "A Closer Look" segment, which he ended by putting into words the feeling that a large portion of the American public has already thought and/or stated on social media. "We shouldn't have to shame or pressure the President of the United States into saying that Nazis are bad."
Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert and James Corden over on CBS took a somewhat more outwardly humorous approach to their take-down of Trump and his first statement on the events that took place in Charlottesville, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fueled with any anger. When referring to the President's "many sides" comment, Colbert quipped: "Mr. President, this is terrorism, not your order at KFC." You can watch his and Corden's monologues below.
