Seth Meyers introduced a recurring theme he calls the “Trump Paradox” in a recent A Closer Look segment. Using a surprising Democratic win in Texas as context, the late-night host pointed to a larger political shift. He outlined what he described as a recurring pattern tied to Donald Trump’s influence.
Seth Meyers talks about ‘Trump Paradox’
During his A Closer Look segment, Seth Meyers explained the “Trump Paradox” after Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a Texas State Senate special election by 14 points. Meyers pointed out that Democrats hadn’t flipped the district in nearly 50 years and that Donald Trump carried it in 2024. “This has been true for 10 years,” Meyers said. “It’s what we here at ‘Late Night’ call ‘The Trump Paradox.’”
Meyers explained the paradox as a political pattern where losing to Trump is a prerequisite for later defeating him. “The only way to beat Donald Trump is to first lose to Donald Trump. It’s the only way,” he said. According to Meyers, Trump’s presidency prompts initial optimism followed by dissatisfaction. “He runs for president, says, ‘If I win, everything will be awesome,’ and people say, ‘Oh my god, I like the sound of awesome,’” Meyers said. “And then he wins, and everything sucks. And then people say, ‘Oh, I don’t like this at all,’ and then they vote against him.”
Meyers used the recent Texas result as evidence of this pattern. “His approval ratings have been at all-time lows, and his party’s getting shellacked everywhere, even in deep red states like Texas,” he noted. Rehmet’s win was seen as a surprising development in a long-held Republican district.
Meyers also mocked Trump’s decision to skip the Super Bowl, rejecting the president’s stated reasons. “Of course Trump is worried about getting booed,” Meyers said. He tied this to broader trends of declining support for Trump and GOP candidates in traditionally Republican areas.
Meyers ended the segment by stating the pattern will continue “forever and forever until the sun swallows the Earth, or the Jets win the Super Bowl, whichever comes first.”
