
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng escaped from house arrest during a diplomatic visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this week and presented himself at the U.S. embassy seeking asylum. The U.S. initially portrayed this moment as a human rights victory, but that take on things quickly unraveled as Chen found himself stuck in China and the safety of himself and his family in jeopardy.
On Thursday night’s edition of “The Daily Show,” host Jon Stewart recapped the debacle, then brought in “Beijing Bureau Chief John Oliver” to discuss how President Bill Clinton set a “dangerous diplomatic precedent” by traveling to North Korea in 2009 to secure the release of journalists Laura Liu and Euna Lee.
If you’re being oppressed by a totalitarian, Communist regime, said Oliver, just go on TV and beg for help “and a Clinton will personally fly to your rescue.” If not Bill in his jet, then possibly Hillary Clinton in her State Department plane, “Chelsea in a single-engine Cessna,” or, if you are very, very lucky, George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic in his “P-Funk Mothership.”
Watch the clip, embedded in two parts via Comedy Central, below:
Part One:
Part Two: