Seth Meyers took time on Tuesday night to check in on one of President Trump’s signature campaign promises, which has perhaps gotten lost amid the health care fiasco, unbelievable gaffes, and swirling evidence of potential treason: draining the swamp. Unfortunately for supporters who actually believed the then-Republican candidate when he vowed to remove lobbyists and special interests from Washington D.C., it didn’t take long for Meyers to conclude that Trump hasn’t exactly followed through.
The Late Night host mostly focused on an executive order ban on lobbying, which the Trump administration has touted as evidence of swamp-draining. Meyers, however, wasn’t so sure. “At least nine people who worked on Trump’s transition have already registered as lobbyists because of loopholes in the ban,” he explained, “meaning they can now cash in privately for whatever work they did for the government—the exact thing Trump promised to avoid.”
And of course, if Trump were really invested in this problem, according to Meyers, there would be an easy wasy to address it—like, say, expanding the definition of lobbyists to include “consultants,” many of whom are swimming in Trump’s orbit. But, again, there’s no evidence of even intended action from the president on that front. “As usual, Trump’s insistence on changing the way Washington works is overhyped,” Meyers said. “Mainly just empty promises.” Indeed, that seems to be the Trump MO.
