John Oliver opened his show last night by admitting he knew nothing about the “thoughtful, substantive discussion” that took place during Sunday’s second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. But that didn’t stop him from tearing into Trump over the recently revealed 2005 videotape that shows the GOP nominee making lewd and boastful comments about groping women without their consent.
Like CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who co-moderated last night’s debate with ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, Oliver quickly delved into Trump’s now-infamous unaired conversation with TV host Billy Bush, then of Access Hollywood. Oliver began by tackling the news of Trump’s taped comments, as well as the massive fallout that includes rebukes from across the political spectrum of Trump’s behavior.
Oliver showed a clip from the tape, which he described as Trump “telling a giggling Billy Bush that one of the perks of fame is that he can grab women’s genitalia without permission.” And, while Oliver has made jokes before about the lowbrow nature of the current election cycle, the late-night comedian said on Sunday that Trump’s newly-revealed comments have brought us to a new low.
“We have sunk so low, we are breaking through the earth’s crust, where drowning in hot magma will come as sweet relief,” Oliver said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TuDCuHIcZw
Oliver also mocked the apology Trump taped over the weekend, in which the GOP nominee insisted that the words the tape captured him uttering 11 years ago do not reflect his true character. Trump doubled down on his apology during the debate, dismissing it as “locker room talk.” The comedian weighed in on the presidential candidate’s true nature, claiming that Trump’s words on the tape “could not capture his essence more if they were spoken by a spray tanned Furby eating KFC and screaming at a gold star family.”
Last Week Tonight also took to task many members of the Republican party’s leadership who rebuked Trump over the lewd comments caught on tape while still refusing to withdraw their support for the GOP nominee. “The only way you get to be shocked and outraged now is if you were cryogenically frozen until Friday afternoon, and that Access Hollywood tape was the first thing you saw upon being reanimated. Anything less and this is on you too,” Oliver said.
Oliver especially criticized House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is still supporting Trump’s candidacy even though Ryan said he was “sickened” by the comments Trump made in 2005. Referring to the fact that Ryan expressed hope that Trump would work to show greater respect for women in the wake of the scandal, Oliver said: “It’s too late in absolutely every way. First, it’s October in an election year. And, second, he’s f—ing 70!”
