Late-night host Seth Meyers said his team discussed changing the tone of his NBC program after Donald Trump won a second presidential election. Meyers described the conversation in an interview with podcast host Nayeema Raza, published Tuesday, according to the supplied report.
Raza asked whether political comedy can make audiences feel too comfortable. Meyers said that possibility concerned him, but he was unsure how else to approach the subject. He also said he did not want to make every episode a nightly warning about the Trump administration.
Meyers said the team had been surprised by Trump’s election victories, particularly the first one. After the second election, he said, the staff gathered to discuss how the show should change. In his view, repeating the approach used during Trump’s first four years would feel different and could seem ineffective if the program simply went through the motions.
He described the show as joyful to make and said he tells audiences before each taping that there is value in gathering together. Meyers added that the topics themselves may not be cheerful, but he did not want to perform as though he personally carried the full weight of every political development. He said the show wanted to be honest and get its facts right, while finding a sense of solidarity with viewers.
Meyers also discussed ABC host Jimmy Kimmel, who was suspended in 2025 after comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Meyers said the abruptness of Kimmel’s removal from the air was especially frightening, suggesting Kimmel may not have known earlier that he would be off the air that night. Meyers also said a concern in Trump’s second term was the possibility of having to return to the drawing board after an initial attempt.
The report said Meyers praised NBC News for not directing what he should say, describing that independence as special. It did not provide further details about the internal meeting or identify any specific changes to the program’s content or format.
Curtis Houck, managing editor of Newsbusters, criticized Meyers and other late-night hosts in comments to Fox News Digital. Houck argued that they emphasize Trump and present events in an exaggerated way, adding that their stated intention to lean into joy would not prevent them from doing so. Those remarks are Houck’s assessment; the report did not include a response from Meyers to his criticism.
Meyers and fellow comedian John Oliver had also appeared with Kimmel on Kimmel’s program, according to the report. Oliver said audiences at stand-up question-and-answer sessions ask how it feels to be disliked by the sitting president, and that he and Meyers answer that they are fine as long as they remain on the air. Meyers joked that Kimmel attracts the president’s ire, while Oliver expressed support for Kimmel using a comparison to a bulletproof vest. The three then speculated about why Kimmel had drawn particular attention from Trump.
