HBO’s John Oliver thinks Republicans are racists, and the fact that Republicans would vehemently reject the label doesn’t matter to him. However, on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, Oliver tried to claim that former Columbia University student and pro-Hamas protest leader Mahmoud Khalil isn’t anti-Semitic because Khalil claims he’s not and therefore the efforts to deport him are an attempt by the Trump Administration to silence opinions they do not like.
Oliver declared that, “Clearly, you shouldn't be deporting green card holders for their views. And for what it's worth: Regardless of what others may've said or done during those protests, Khalil himself explicitly said, ‘anti-Semitism, and any other form of racism, has no place on this campus and in this movement.’”
Moving on to a picture of some of the demonstrators’ signs, Oliver added, “It's also notable some Jewish students at Columbia rallied in support of Khalil this week and while the word bitch in me wants to point out that that's not how you spell the word fascism, I don't want to draw attention from the excellent ‘Pigs aren't kosher’ sign just a few feet behind it. That's the kind of pithy slogan that would turn Don Draper's head. He wouldn't hire a Jewish copywriter until pretty late in the show, but still, put that in your book, kid.”
Blood libel and applying double standards to Israel are absolutely forms of anti-Semitism, and the fact that some self-identified Jews defend people like Khalil means nothing.
Later, Oliver moved onto an interview Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar gave with NPR. As Oliver tells it, Edgar was woefully unimpressive, “Okay, first, when the question is about providing support for Hamas and the answer is ‘Pro-Palestinian activity,’ you are already telling on yourself. And it's not great when your best evidence is, "I think you can see it on TV, right? That's the same level of detail my parents would give to the question, ‘What does John do for work?’ ‘I mean, you can see it on TV, right? He says it's comedy, but we don't tend to laugh.’
Even if one agrees with Oliver’s assessment of Edgar’s performance, it doesn’t mean Khalil is a martyr. Khalil led an organization and was present at an unauthorized occupation of school property that distributed pro-Hamas literature.
However, Oliver and his trio of journalistic Peabody awards wasn’t interested in any of that, “Because when the accusation is terrorism, you should need a bit more than, ‘The vibes are off.’ Protesting, in and of itself, is not a crime, even if it makes people uncomfortable. Kind of like that DHS guy's official portrait. Not a crime, but uncomfortable, right? I don't like it, but it's not illegal.”
It is not just Oliver's parents that claim “We don’t tend to laugh” at his “comedy."
Here is a transcript for the March 16 show:
HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
3/16/2025
11:27 PM ET
JOHN OLIVER: Clearly, you shouldn't be deporting green card holders for their views. And for what it's worth: Regardless of what others may've said or done during those protests, Khalil himself explicitly said, "Anti-Semitism, and any other form of racism, has no place on this campus and in this movement."
It's also notable some Jewish students at Columbia rallied in support of Khalil this week and while the word bitch in me wants to point out that that's not how you spell the word fascism, I don't want to draw attention from the excellent "Pigs aren't kosher" sign just a few feet behind it. That's the kind of pithy slogan that would turn Don Draper's head. He wouldn't hire a Jewish copywriter until pretty late in the show, but still, put that in your book, kid.
…
Okay, first, when the question is about providing support for Hamas and the answer is "Pro-Palestinian activity," you are already telling on yourself. And it's not great when your best evidence is, "I think you can see it on TV, right?"
That's the same level of detail my parents would give to the question, "What does John do for work?" "I mean, you can see it on TV, right? He says it's comedy, but we don't tend to laugh."
Because when the accusation is terrorism, you should need a bit more than, "The vibes are off." Protesting, in and of itself, is not a crime, even if it makes people uncomfortable. Kind of like that DHS guy's official portrait. Not a crime, but uncomfortable, right? I don't like it, but it's not illegal.
