Late-night hosts find themselves in a tough spot when faced with contentious political figures. Viewers who have legitimate concerns about those guests want more than the usual lighthearted fun—but expecting, say, Jimmy Fallon to conduct a Jake Tapper–style, hard-hitting interview with Donald Trump is foolish at best. One exception to this rule? Seth Meyers, whose incarnation of Late Night has increasingly distinguished itself as a home for serious conversation. So when Trump’s former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, sat across from Meyers Tuesday night, expectations were rightfully a little higher.

Meyers did not disappoint. In fact, his interview with Conway should serve as a rough template for all late-night political interviews going forward. Rather than cracking jokes, lobbing softballs, and ruffling hair, Meyers mined most of the segment’s humor from substance. His biggest laughs came when he respectfully pointed out a hypocrisy within one of Conway’s answers, or called her out for pivoting away from a question. The interview ran for a full 13 minutes, and through it all, both treated the other with respect—but Meyers made it clear early on that he was not there to ask breezy questions and send Conway on her way.

Meyers started things off light, noting that he’d seen Conway take issue in previous interviews with people who cry “not my president.”

“I just want to make it very clear that he is my president. He’s my president so much it’s keeping me up at night,” Meyers joked. The most timely portion of the interview came soon afterward, when Meyers asked Conway about unverified reports that detailed “compromising personal and financial information” Russia has on the president-elect. Both Trump and President Barack Obama had allegedly been briefed on the reports.

Conway pointed out that “nothing’s been confirmed” before claiming Trump was “not aware” that he had been briefed with this information.

“O.K.,” Meyers said. “That concerns me.”

“That’s not fair,” Conway said. “That’s not fair, and it’s not true.”

“What is not true? That I’m not concerned? I assure you I am,” Meyers shot back.

Meyers used his position as perhaps the most obvious heir to Jon Stewart to give voice to liberals who are concerned about—and, really, often baffled by—the Trump news unfolding on a daily basis. Meyers has been cracking scathing Trump jokes for six years, which might be why throughout the interview, he effortlessly drew his punch lines from the simple absurdities of reality.