President Donald Trump hasn’t promised that there will be a peaceful transfer of power if he loses to Joe Biden for the 2020 presidential Election. While the president remains mum, late-night hosts Trevor Noah and Seth Meyers warn viewers about what the Trump’s refusal to leave in peace may bring.
“Trump refusing to say that he would leave office if he loses is a scary thought because who knows what could happen with that kind of threat,” Noah grieved during Thursday’s episode of The Daily Show.
The Comedy Central host said during his segment that the President’s potential move would be unlike any other. Saying that “the world’s oldest democracy is about to become the world’s newest dictatorship,” Noah said that such political refusal seems un-American.
“I never thought I’d see the day where an American president would threaten not to accept an election defeat,” he said. “Let’s be honest, this is something you hear about in some random country where America steps in to enforce democracy. I feel like now it’s only fair that those countries should send peacekeepers to the U.S.,” he added.
If Trump truly refuses to vacate the presidency for Biden, “one of the world’s most famous landlords” will turn “into the world’s most famous squatter,” Noah kid during the segment. He also quipped that Trump, in order to remain in the White House for as long as possible, might live in the basement as Biden sits atop – à la Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite.
Similarly, Meyers criticized Trump for his failure to confirm a peaceful transfer of power.
“He’s threatening a coup d’etat even though I’m sure he has no idea what the phrase ‘coup d’etat’ means,” the Late Night host said. “He probably thinks it’s a lyric from Moulin Rouge!“
Like Noah, Meyers said Americans are seeing democracy transform into an “autocratic regime” in real time. He even quipped that if Trump stays in office, it won’t be long until he parks a military tank on Pennsylvania Avenue and dons green fatigues and a long beard.
During his “A Closer Look” segment, the NBC late-night host also blasted Trump for his criticisms of universal mail-in voting. He showed videos of Trump saying that the voting practice, taken in precaution of the COVID-19 pandemic, can lead to false election results and interference.
However, Trump’s insecurities about voting results may not be a result of genuine concern over mail-in ballots, but may be due to his polling numbers, Meyers said.
“You think the only way you can lose an election is if it’s rigged? You haven’t cracked 50% in the polling average all year,” he said. “You haven’t been ahead of Biden in the polling average once, you lost the popular vote by three million and your approval numbers have been underwater since you launched your campaign.”
Watch Noah and Meyers’ segments, respectively, below.