John Oliver unleashes on Donald Trump for allowing white supremacists to 'fester and thrive'
HBO host John Oliver had already prepared for his Sunday episode of "Last Week Tonight," but he recorded a specific introduction to address the mass shootings that happened over the weekend.
"When it comes to gun control, I know it can feel like everything's been said before," Oliver stated. "In fact, even pointing out 'everything's been said before,' has been said before."
He explained that the "depressingly familiar numbness" can undoubtedly help Americans handle the pain and sadness of the death and carnage we all now face. But that numbness is actually causing a problem.
"Unless something hurts as much as it's supposed to, nothing gets done about it," Oliver said. "And something has got to be done here -- and not just about guns."
He noted that the El Paso, Texas shooting is being investigated as a hate crime because the shooter's manifesto cited anti-immigrant language right out of President Donald Trump's own mouth (or Twitter fingers).
Oliver explained that white nationalism hardly began with Trump. "But he certainly seems to have created an environment where those kinds of views can fester and indeed thrive."
He cited the Florida rally where Trump asked his audience what he can do to stop the flow of migrants over the border. From the audience, a Trump supporter shouted: "shoot them!" Trump joked that only in the Florida panhandle can someone get away with saying that.
"Yeah, but here is the thing about that," Oliver continued. "It is not 'only in the panhandle' where you can get away with that statement. You can now get away with it all over the country. And, as he just made painfully clear, in any room the actual president is in, which is absolutely appalling. And that is something we cannot afford to get numb to. Because if that ever, for even a moment, feels like that becomes normal, we are completely f*cked.
Watch his opener below:
