Samantha Bee slams Jimmy Fallon, NBC for their treatment of Donald Trump

While the media and Twitter didn't hold back on its criticism of Jimmy Fallon for his interview with Donald Trump last week, Fallon's late-night peers had yet to tackle the issue. But on Samantha Bee's first show since the Trump interview, the Full Frontal host didn't hold back on Fallon — or NBC as a whole. 

"Why do so many Americans think playing footsie with fringe hate groups isn't a disqualifier from polite society, much less the presidency?" Bee posited. "Maybe because that's the message they get from entertainment giants like NBC, which gladly nurtured Trump's celebrity ... NBC tacitly condoned a race-baiting demagogue." 

Bee cited Trump sharing his birtherism conspiracy theories for President Barack Obama during his time on The Apprentice — theories which he only formally refuted last week. NBC, meanwhile, said they severed ties with Trump following his presidential campaign announcement last year, but as Bee notes, he's appeared on their programs several times since.

The clip of Trump hosting Saturday Night Live even showed the real estate mogul jokingly wondering why he's hosting the show, to which Bee responded:

I guess because ratings matter more than brown people? Sure, he's making life palpably dangerous for Muslims and immigrants, but hey, he's good entertainment. Here's a thought: when Holocaust survivors are telling you, "This guy gives me déjà vu," maybe don't invite him up into your house to play with your adorable children.

Bee then cut to a montage of some of the soft questions Fallon had for Trump, before the infamous ruffling of the candidate's hair that drew much of the ire last week. 

"Trump can be a total sweetheart with someone who has no reason to be terrified of him," Bee says. "I noticed there were no cutaway shots to the Roots. I wonder why." 

Bee concludes by noting that executives at networks like NBC — and, in turn, hosts like Fallon — aren't as cognizant of why coddling Trump is such a dangerous notion, because it doesn't affect them. 

"They're not gonna be deported," she says. "They're not gonna live under a president who thinks of them as a collection of sex toys. They're not racist. They just don't mind if other people are, which is just as bad." 

Watch Bee's takedown of NBC and Fallon below.