On Monday, January 13, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump targeted NBC late-night host Seth Meyers and parent company Comcast in a string of posts on Truth Social, adding another chapter to a feud that has been ongoing since Meyers first satirized Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The verbal assault happened just prior to the Department of Justice publishing a significant report stating that Trump would have been convicted of trying to reverse the 2020 election outcome if he had not won the 2024 presidential election.
The President-elect’s online outburst started around 1:00 AM Eastern Time. “These guys should be paying a lot of money for the right to give these ‘in kind’ contributions to the Radical Left Democrat Party,” Trump wrote. “These are not shows or entertainment. They are simply political hits, 100% of the time, to me and the Republican Party. Marble Mouth Meyers is merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast.”
Meyers has regularly focused his “A Closer Look” segments on Trump, using them to critique Trump’s policies and remarks. The comedian has said that Trump “turned himself into an object of ridicule” and that his show intentionally uses “Trump’s own momentum against him.”
Trump’s hostility towards late-night television isn’t limited to Meyers. He has consistently criticized other hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Stephen Colbert, labeling them as “talentless” and “low-rated” due to their regular critiques of his actions and policies.
The dynamic between Trump and NBC is especially strained. While the network was instrumental in catapulting Trump into mainstream fame with “The Apprentice,” the relationship has grown more tense since his political career began. Many of the top personalities at MSNBC are outspoken critics of Trump.
In September 2024, Trump proposed that Comcast should be investigated for “treason,” stating: “They are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC NEWS, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason.’”
Most recently, Meyers mocked Trump’s courtroom appearances and his comments about the wildfires in California. “It’s always so weird to hear reporters read Trump’s remarks,” Meyers said on his show. “It’s like listening to a tourist read a menu in a language they don’t speak.” The host specifically targeted Trump’s inaccuracies about California Governor Gavin Newsom’s wildfire response.
The White House has previously criticized Trump’s media threats as “an outrageous attack on our democracy and the rule of law.”
Even though Trump faced several criminal and civil charges prior to his election victory, he still managed to secure the Republican nomination and win the presidency. Progressive groups have labeled his recent comments as “full fascist,” while media analysts point out that his rhetoric could potentially infringe on First Amendment rights.
