While Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was overcoming pneumonia at home this week, Fox News was speculating on her death, her "body double" and whether she'll drop out of the race.
"Late Night" host Seth Meyers showed clips of Fox News citing "people on social media" speculating that Clinton would be dropping out of the race. When Fox News asked its audience for their opinion, one host quoted a person named Zach who posted that she'll probably drop out of the race.
"Oh, if Zach says it, it must be true," Meyers mocked. "If you're watching Fox News for information about the upcoming election you might as well cut out the middleman and ask Mom what her Facebook friends are saying. 'You know, Linda says that Hillary has been a ghost for 10 years. I don't know, it had 54 likes.'"
Meyers agrees that conversations about a candidate's health are legitimate, but this diagnosis comes after Trump supporters have already spent months spreading conspiracy theories. Thanks to that innuendo, the conversation has now turned to Clinton having a "body double." One Fox News reporter even cited the movie "Dave" as evidence that it could happen.
"That's right," Meyers began. "They're comparing this election to the movie 'Dave,' which is ridiculous. 'Dave' is about a know-nothing businessman, who is accidentally thrust into the presidency, even though he's completely unprepared — okay, maybe there are more similarities than I thought."
When it comes to Clinton's recent "basket of deplorables" comment, Meyers joked that Clinton's apology was not for saying "deplorable" but saying "half." While Trump supporters pounced, they didn't exactly execute it very well.
"First, there was Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, who was ready to pounce on Clinton as soon as he could find his prepared remarks," Meyers joked, showing a clip of Pence's speech at the Values Voters Summit, where he spent quite a while searching through his notes for Clinton's direct quote.
"I am outraged by this remark!" Meyers mocked Pence. "And I will express that outrage as soon as I find my outrage cards!"
Trump himself responded to Clinton's comments by claiming that it proves she is out of touch. "While Hillary Clinton lives a sequestered life, behind gates and walls and guards, she mocks and demeans hard-working Americans," he said, before demanding she retract her comments or drop out.
"That's right," Meyers responded. "Hillary is an elitist, who lives a life of luxury, while Donald Trump is a regular, everyday, man of the people. As you can tell from the humble decor in his home in Trump Tower." Meyers then played video of a walkthrough of Trump's condo. "Lots and lots of gold," Meyers remarked. "Donald Trump isn't just the second-most-out-of-touch candidate, he's the second-best Austin Powers villain."
As for dropping out, if Trump "had to do it every time [he] insulted millions of people and refused to apologize, [his] campaign announcement speech would have" been his mention of "Mexican rapists" followed by the announcement he was quitting.
"Look, was Hillary making a lazy, sweeping generalization? Yes, she was," Meyers said. "But was there a core truth to what she said that we all need to grapple with? Yes, because you can't deny Trump's candidacy has attracted support from white nationalists and their followers, like former KKK leader David Duke. And on top of that, polling suggests that two-thirds of Trump's supporters believe Obama is a Muslim. And 59 percent of Trump supporters believe Obama was not born in the United States."
Trump's supporters deny this, just as former Rep. Jack Kingston tried to do last week, but he was smacked down by a reporter who actually covers Trump rallies. She explained, "They often say he's a Muslim," she said about Obama. "Some of them even go on to say that they believe he's an undercover operative. A Manchurian candidate, if you will."
But if that's true Meyers wonders what Obama is waiting for. "When's he going to make his move? He's got like four months left."
"If you're a presidential candidate you should immediately reject this kind of bigotry," Meyers said, before encouraging any candidate who doesn't to drop out of the race.
Watch Meyers' video below:
