Seth Meyers Is Not Impressed by Jeff Flake’s Trump Takedown

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Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. What do you think of it? What else are you interested in? Let us know: thearts@nytimes.com.

‘Kinda-Sorta Guts’

On “Late Night,” Seth Meyers refused to celebrate Senator Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who delivered a fiery speech denouncing President Trump on the Senate floor on Tuesday. Clapping slowly and sarcastically, Mr. Meyers said Mr. Flake’s address — in which he announced he would not seek re-election in 2018 — was too little, too late.

“All right! Jeff Flake! Way to eventually go! It took kinda-sorta guts to stand up only 11 months after the election and tell America not to elect Donald Trump. You said, ‘Hey, I don’t care if this hurts my 18 percent approval rating. And yeah, maybe I voted to confirm Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos, even though one lied during his confirmation hearing, and the other spells “lie” with an “h.” But I’m going stand up and do what was right a year ago. I’m going to fight for the American people — by quitting my job of fighting for the American people.’ This has been a ‘Late Night’ slow clap.” — SETH MEYERS

Jimmy Fallon looked at another Senate Republican who’s embroiled in an insult battle with Mr. Trump: Bob Corker of Tennessee.

“Today Corker said that Trump is a bad role model for children. And Trump said, ‘Not true. I’ve even proven that a child can be elected president.’” — JIMMY FALLON

And Stephen Colbert offered a general assessment of the situation.

“Internal strife is tearing the Republican Party apart at the seams. It’s like a new Civil War, only this time neither side is trying to help black people.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

Trevor Noah on Bill O’Reilly

Trevor Noah and other late-night hosts went after Bill O’Reilly, who is in the news after reports emerged that he had settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $32 million last year.

“Thirty-two million dollars? Do you know how much money that is? O’Reilly could have made his own ‘Madea’ movie for that money. Although if he puts on that dress he might end up sexually harassing himself, so, don’t do it.” — TREVOR NOAH

The Punchiest Punchlines (World Series Edition)

“This is the Dodgers’ first World Series in almost 30 years, since 1988, so it’s a tough ticket to come by. The average ticket price for Game 1 was about $1,300. To put that in perspective, right now a ticket to the World Series is worth more than the Weinstein Company.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“When asked if he was running for Senate in 2018, Kid Rock said — and this is a quote — ‘[expletive] no.’ That’s what he said. Now, ladies and gentlemen, that kind of language can only mean one thing: He’s running for president.” — CONAN O’BRIEN

“Foreign policy experts say that the president of China is now the world’s most powerful person. Yeah, as you can imagine, that came as quite a shock — to Beyoncé.” — CONAN O’BRIEN

The Bits Worth Watching

On “The Tonight Show,” Lin-Manuel Miranda crashed Tuesday’s edition of “Freestylin’ With the Roots.”

“The Opposition’s” Kobi Libii took an investigative look at left-wing “antifa” activists.

What We’re Excited About on Wednesday Night

Megyn Kelly — host of a new “Today” show slot and, in recent days, an outspoken critic of Mr. O’Reilly — will sit down with Mr. Meyers on Wednesday.

Also, Check This Out

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Sexual harassment claims against Leon Wieseltier, the prominent former literary editor at The New Republic, have cost him the editorship of a new magazine.

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