John Oliver is a British comedian and has been the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” since 2014. Similar to Trevor Noah, John Oliver used to work with Jon Stewart and is now well known for his savvy political coverage. Despite his reputation as a political commentator he held from addressing Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. He refused to take Trump seriously and it wasn’t until February 28, 2016 that he finally felt a necessity to take Trump head on. In a strong, and extensive 20-minute discourse he addresses all of Trump’s absurdities and bold-faced lies. This episode has over 32 million views on YouTube and is attached down below for your convenience.
After watching that video, it is hard to fathom that anyone could believe a word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth. It seems that facts are of little importance to Trump supporters and what he says, goes. Oliver does a brilliant job of clearly and hilariously exposing Trump’s falsehoods. From Trump’s business failures, to his contradicting stances on abortion, assault weapon bands, and Syrian refugees, to Trump’s absurd advocacy for committing a “war crime”, Oliver tackles them all.
It is Trump’s own words and writings that get in him into trouble. His dire need to Tweet every single thought that pops into his mind, serves as proof against himself in the future when he changes his mind on various policies and topics. John Oliver revealed Trump’s inconsistencies and did everything in his power to educate the voters about the GOP candidate that is now our President. As one of TIME Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" of the 2015 year, one would hope his works would have made a greater impact on convincing voters of Trump's incongruity. However, despite his best efforts, when election day came and Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States of America, Oliver addressed his audience in the best way he could, by transforming our frustrations and enragement into a witty and humorous “Fuck 2016” clip that is down below.
Citations: Bierman, Elizabeth. "John Oliver." Time. Time, 16 Apr. 2015. Web. 4 Apr. 2017. Google Images. Google, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2017. John Oliver - Official Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Zoglin, Richard. "The New Politics of Late Night. (Cover Story)." Time, vol. 188, no. 12, 26 Sept. 2016, pp. 42-47. EBSCOhost, login.proxy.library.emory.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.library.emory.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=118137366&site=ehost-live.