John Oliver reduced President Donald Trump’s takeover of Washington, D.C., to a mere publicity stunt on Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight” ― but of course the host had a more entertaining description. (Watch the video below.)
Last week Trump moved to activate the National Guard in D.C. and take over the capital’s police force to stop what he called “bloodshed, bedlam and squalor” despite crime stats trending downward there. In fact, crime hit a 30-year low somewhat recently.
Oliver gave a scathing explanation for why the president’s fix-what-isn’t-broke strategy is rather dubious. And it involves awkward associations with Jeffrey Epstein, the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Vladimir Putin.
“It is painfully obvious that Trump is doing this to boost his tough guy image with his base,” he said. “But that is going to be a challenge because it is a tough sell for the man who was friends with a child sex trafficker, brought about this mess [shows a photo of the Capitol riot], and on Friday got steamrolled by a bloodthirsty warlord to convince Americans that he is keeping them safe. ... I would argue if anyone is making things too dadgum dangerous in this country, it’s probably fucking him right now.”
