It's no secret that Last Week Tonight host John Oliver and Donald Trump aren't exactly friends — and the fact that Oliver has refused to let Trump appear on his show and denies the would-be GOP prez's allegations that Trump turned down a guest slot offer in 2015, definitely hasn't done anything to bridge the gap between the two public personalities. However, John Oliver took it to an entirely new level on Sunday, Feb. 28, when he proceeded to rake Trump over the coals, calling the GOP candidate out on his financial history, his bombast and his recent non-response to former Ku Klux Klan member David Duke's presidential endorsement.
In the Trump-focused statement, Oliver warmed himself up by attacking the billionaire's claims that his campaign is entirely self-funded, which Trump has used to claim himself as an independently-minded candidate who doesn't rely on the agendas of other individuals or corporations.
"While it is true that he hasn't taken corporate money, the implication that he has personally spent $20-25 million is a bit of a stretch, because what he's actually done is loaned his own campaign $17.5 million, and has personally given just $250,000," Oliver said. "And that's important because up until the convention, he can pay himself back for the loan with campaign funds."
Oliver concluded the financial-themed slam with a jab at the "donate" buttons located on Trump's official site.
"If he didn't want it, maybe he shouldn't have two 'donate' buttons on his website, because money isn't unsolicited when you have to ask for someone's credit card expiration date to receive it," he added.
Oliver then went on to criticize the GOP hopeful's many failed business ventures (among them a vodka brand, two folded magazines, an entire airline, Trump University, which is currently being sued) and a mortgage company (which Trump founded in 2006, less than two years before the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008), as well as the misrepresentation of Trump's actual net worth — which, according to Trump, changes "depending on his mood."
"He claimed that his net worth changes depending on his mood, which makes absolutely no sense, partly because he always seems to be in the same mood — specifically, smug yet gassy," said Oliver.
Oliver's main criticisms and concerns were over what affects the American people most: consistent policy and, most recently, Trump's non-response to Duke's presidential endorsement during an interview with anchor Jake Tapper on CNN, which the primary candidate blamed on a malfunctioning earpiece. According to Oliver, however, it indicates the GOP candidate is "either a racist" or "pretending to be."
"Whatever you think about Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, at least you basically know where they stand, but Trump's opinions have been wildly inconsistent. He's been pro-choice and pro-life, for and against assault weapon bans, in favor of both bringing in Syrian refugees and deporting them out of the country, and that inconsistency can be troubling."
"Really? That's your best answer there?" asked a puzzled Oliver. "Because you definitely know who he is, partly because you called him 'a bigot' and 'a racist' in the past, but that's not even the [expletive deleted] point. The point is, with an answer like that, you are either racist or you are pretending to be, and at some point, there is no difference there."
Perhaps the best revelation of the clip was Oliver's revelation that the billionaire's surname, Trump, had actually been changed a few generations ago from the original last name "Drumpf" ("[expletive deleted] Drumpf!" Oliver yelled in delight). The news was especially ironic, given that Trump had previously called out former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who is also Oliver's friend, on Twitter over the former Daily Show host's name-change from Leibowitz to Stewart.
If Jon Stewart is so above it all & legit, why did he change his name from Jonathan Leibowitz? He should be proud of his heritage!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2013
.@realDonaldTrump I imagine bc there are anti-Semitic jerks who would try to use his last name and heritage as if they were pejorative
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 3, 2013
Oliver's words:
"Drumpf is much less magical. It's the sound produced when a morbidly obese pigeon flies into the window of a foreclosed Old Navy. Drumpf. It's the sound of a bottle of store-brand root beer falling off the shelf in a gas station minimart. And it may seem weird to bring up his ancestral name, but to quote Donald Trump, he 'should be proud of his heritage'-back to that Stewart tweet — because Drumpf is much more reflective of who he actually is."
In the end, Oliver asked a simple question:
"So if you are thinking of voting for Donald Trump, the charismatic guy promising to 'Make America Great Again,' stop and take a moment to imagine how you would feel if you just met a guy named Donald Drumpf: a litigious, serial liar with a string of broken business ventures and the support of a former Klan leader who he can't decide whether or not to condemn. Would you think he would make a good president, or is the spell now somewhat broken?"
Check out John Oliver's teardown of Donald Trump in the video clip below.
Source: YouTube
