Far-left HBO host John Oliver on Sunday used his show to go on a profanity-laced rant about the coronavirus, the President and the “market worship” attempts to save the economy that risk becoming a “fucking death cult.” What was most galling, however, was the Last Week Tonight host's efforts to pretend that there is nothing political going on in how some on the left are covering the virus crisis.
After playing a clip of Donald Trump saying that some want to use COVID-19 to defeat him in November, Oliver screamed, “Oh, for fuck's sake! No one is thinking about you! These guidelines do not revolve around you!” He then disingenuously added, “And look, I know this isn't exactly the first time I've criticized Donald Trump, but I can't tell you how much I was rooting for him to do this better.”
The idea that Oliver is anything other than a far-left political demagogue is laughable. This is the man who said he would shoot Christian Tim Tebow, the host who called conservative leaders “evil,” blamed Trump’s win on racism and asked people to send penis pictures to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (For more on Oliver’s worst outburst, go here.)
Yet, for some reason, Oliver tried to portay himself as an equal opportunity offender, hitting Republican and Democrats alike: “Take Ohio governor Mike DeWine. I disagree with basically everything, but he's doing a pretty good job [handling the virus] so far. Also, if I'm honest, I never really liked Andrew Cuomo before this, but I'll admit, he's doing admirably well. And I can't wait to get to the other side of this when I can go back to being irritated by him again.”
Keep waiting for that full Last Week Tonight episode devoted to mocking Democrats.
He ended by ranting about the problems of “decentralized government” and derided focusing too much on saving the economy as a “fucking death cult.”
Our decentralized government -- which can be good when local leaders are empowered to protect their communities -- has also led to states fighting each other for resources and a patchwork quarantine strategy that will almost certainly draw out the agony of this crisis. Meanwhile, we are being forced to confront some of the strangest, darkest implications of our national mindset, in which market worship threatens to become a fucking death cult.”
A partial transcript is below:
Last Week Tonight
3/29/2020
[Clip of Trump saying that some people want to use this to defeat him in November.]
JOHN OLIVER: Oh, for fuck's sake! No one is thinking about you! These guidelines do not revolve around you! For once something has come along that is more toxic and more threatening than this president, and somehow, he's got fucking stage envy. And look, I know this isn't exactly the first time I've criticized Donald Trump, but I can't tell you how much I was rooting for him to do this better. Handling a crisis well is not inherently political. Take Ohio governor Mike DeWine. I disagree with basically everything, but he's doing a pretty good job so far. Also, if I'm honest, I never really liked Andrew Cuomo before this, but I'll admit, he's doing admirably well. And I can't wait to get to the other side of this when I can go back to being irritated by him again.
And I wish I could honestly say that we're going to be fine, but I don't know that. Most of us will, but not all of us, and the number who won't is very much up in the air right now. What's clear is that a crisis of this magnitude ends up revealing a lot about who you are as a nation, and not all of what's being revealed is good. This virus is exposing some central vulnerabilities in our medical system, our political system, and our national psyche. Hospitals that have spent years trying to operate at maximum efficiency are now watching that efficiency turn into scarcity. Our decentralized government -- which can be good when local leaders are empowered to protect their communities -- has also led to states fighting each other for resources and a patchwork quarantine strategy that will almost certainly draw out the agony of this crisis. Meanwhile, we are being forced to confront some of the strangest, darkest implications of our national mindset, in which market worship threatens to become a fucking death cult.
