In a sensible world she'd 'withdraw in shame': John Oliver showcases disgraced local MAGA candidate

"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver opened his Sunday show by addressing the far-right options Republicans must choose in picking a Speaker of the House. Among them is Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who still hasn't answered a subpoena and was accused of aiding Donald Trump on Jan. 6. The other is Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) who once bragged he's just like former KKK grand wizard David Duke.

He compared the political tragedy to the take of a MAGA candidate in Franklin, Tennessee, who, under normal circumstances, would have quit the race in shame by now. Instead, she's still going.

Gabrielle Hanson is running against the current Republican mayor who she believes isn't quite as MAGA as she is.

It's unclear what she means by that, but Hanson has been caught in a number of humiliating lies.

First, after fighting against the city's Pride celebrations to protect children from "seeing things they couldn't unsee" it was revealed that when she and her husband lived in Chicago her husband was initially barred from campaigning at the Pride celebrations. When the congressional campaign was allowed in, he dressed up in an American flag speedo. The local news called it a "double standard" when it comes to things children, indeed all people, can't "unsee."

Hanson went after the drag queen Jaidynn Diore Fierce, known for her cartoon-related outfits. Hanson, who mispronounced Diore as "Dior-y," claimed that it would confuse children to see a drag queen in makeup while wearing Elmo on a body suit. Oliver argued that by the same logic, the Time Square characters could lead to outright therapy.

She argued that the Nashville airport shouldn't fund a Juneteenth Celebration, saying she didn't want her tax dollars going to "radical agendas."

"With all due respect," Oliver said. "You're talking to an airport, Gabrielle. It doesn't care about you. It doesn't care about anyone. It's an airport! ... The airport is a cruel unfeeling dimension uninterested in your culture war bulls--t!"

Since then, Hanson was caught trying to pretend she was being endorsed by a diverse group of women who then explained that they were far from supporting her.

She also claimed to have predicted the Nashville school shooting, saying that she even told a police officer about it when he visited her home.

Local Channel 5 reporter Phil Williams got the bodycam footage of Hanson's conversation with the officer. She was lying. He then took a moment to give props to Williams saying, "If you're a politician in Tennessee, Phil Williams has his foot on your godd--mn neck."

Williams also exposed Hanson as palling around with those who purport to be an "actual literal Nazi" and representing a company trying to sell its convenience store that boasts of a white supremacist fight club on the second floor.

How does all of this add up to Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise? Oliver explained, "In a world that makes sense this woman would obviously have withdrawn from this mayoral race in shame but she still has supporters! There are lawn signs up for her in Franklin! There is a real chance she could still win this election because while her numerous scandals are almost cartoonish ... her behavior is entirely emblematic of Republican politics from the local level all the way up to the top. If we learned anything this week it's that far-right Republicans hold a vice-like grip over the entire party and it seems like our best bet in exposing them going forward might be if we can somehow get more reporters to take a page from Nashville's noseiest b-tch."

See the video in the clip below or at the link here.