Late-Night Legend Stands With Seth Meyers as Trump Demands His Firing

Seth Meyers is catching flak from the White House again, and this time David Letterman is publicly backing him up. Yes, that David Letterman. The setup is simple: the president wants NBC to fire a late-night host, an FCC official amplified it, and Letterman is not having it.

What kicked this off

On November 15, President Donald Trump posted on social media that NBC should fire 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers immediately. He called Meyers 'no talent,' diagnosed him with 'an incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,' and labeled the show a 'Ratings DISASTER.' The post came after Meyers talked on air about Trump being mentioned in the Epstein files.

Brendan Carr, a Republican commissioner at the FCC (not the chair), promptly reposted the president's message on X (formerly Twitter). The FCC cannot fire TV hosts, but when a government official charged with overseeing broadcasters echoes a demand like that, it reads like pressure. That is why it made noise.

Letterman jumps in

On Tuesday, November 25, David Letterman used his appearance on 'The Barbara Gaines Podcast' — Gaines was a longtime producer on Letterman's show — to send Meyers a very public nod. He said he's never been more proud of Meyers and joked about how these dustups tend to resolve, referencing Jimmy Kimmel getting pulled and quickly reinstated at ABC years back.

He also added a little warning to his praise: essentially, keep your head on a swivel because 'things happen.'

'Oh man, just a wonder of idiocy. It knows no bounds. It's never-ending, he's our current — he's our dictator. He's not going anywhere.'

Letterman has hit this nerve before: he has criticized Trump for going after hosts over speech, and he publicly supported Kimmel during that short-lived ABC dustup. For context nerds: Meyers is a successor in Letterman's old NBC time slot lineage — 'Late Night' went from Letterman to Conan to Fallon to Meyers — so the endorsement carries a little extra weight.

Meyers' response

Meyers took it in stride. He called the president's post 'a thought piece of fan mail.' Dry. Accurate.

How this has played out

• Nov 15: President Trump posts that NBC should fire Seth Meyers 'immediately,' slams the show, and cites Meyers talking about Trump in the Epstein files.
• Same day: FCC commissioner Brendan Carr reposts the president's demand on X, which raises eyebrows given the FCC's role overseeing broadcasters.
• Nov 25: David Letterman, on 'The Barbara Gaines Podcast,' praises Meyers, needles the president, and jokes that these things tend to fizzle — while still telling Meyers to be careful.

The bottom line

It is unusual to see a sitting president publicly calling for a network to fire a comedian. It is even weirder to see an FCC official signal-boost it. Letterman siding with Meyers is both a nod to free-speech common sense and a little torch-passing from the guy who helped define the very show Meyers hosts.