‘Last Night Tonight’ John Oliver: Trump Healthcare Bill ‘Reverse Bernie Sanders’
John Oliver has dubbed the new Donald Trump proposed healthcare plan that some fear could leave millions more uninsured “a reverse Bernie Sanders.”
In the latest episode of his “Last Week Tonight” show aired on HBO, Oliver went on to brand the American Health Care Act the “legislative equivalent of Pirates of the Caribbean 5: The Curse Of Johnny Depp Getting Divorced And Needing the Money.”
Oliver based his assessment on a combination of factors that have included many pundits declaring the plan “dead on arrival” and the overall lukewarm reception to it among growing demographics.
“You may not have wanted it, it looks awful, but it’s here anyway,” said Oliver, taking particular pains to lament the bill’s extensive tax cuts project to aid the wealthiest citizens more than anyone else.
“It cuts the living s**t out of Medicaid,” he decried. “Taking from the poor and giving to the rich.”
Just as mind-boggling to Oliver is the reality that many of the citizens now set to lose the most if Obamacare truly goes to an early grave are those who cast ballots for Trump over Hillary Clinton back in November.
“It’s like if people in Pompeii voted for the volcano,” said Oliver.
So dreaded is Trump’s AHCA, it’s ripped by Democrats and Republicans alike in Washington, prompting Oliver to opine “it is truly the Ted Cruz of health care legislation.”
Later, Oliver noted not even Trump is willing to directly attach his name to the bill, something that struck the host as particularly ironic given his propensity for such actions.
With the president recently admitting that “health care was complicated,” Oliver shared that he plans to do his part in simplifying things for the masses by airing more ads on Fox & Friends about how the bill works.
Meanwhile, experts are already insisting that lower income people will be adversely impacted by the bill, with Obamacare tax credits being replaced by a flat tax based on age.
“So, the older you get, the more money you get,” Oliver said. “Think of it as the exact opposite of being a woman in Hollywood.”
In Oliver’s view, stranger things have happened when it comes to the Trump administration. He branded the recent and ongoing Russian scandal involving several of those close to the president as “stupid Watergate.”
Oliver recently argued things have grown to be so absurd the burning question is no longer “what the president knew and when he knew it,” but rather “is the president physically capable of knowing things at all?”
Already, Trump’s handpicked attorney general Jeff Sessions has had to admit to at least twice meeting with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. while he was still a senator and adviser to Trump’s campaign. The admission came after Sessions claimed under oath that no such meetings ever took place during his senate confirmation hearings.
“Yes, Jeff Sessions, Trump’s attorney general, the unfortunate result of Dobby the House Elf’s one-night stand with a Confederate flag, got in trouble this week for undisclosed meetings with Russia’s ambassador,” Oliver added.
The host has previously ridiculed Trump over what he views as his fascination with Russian President Vladimir Putin, finally deducing the newly elected president dreams of becoming the same man Putin is largely seen as in his homeland.
“He knows how to delegitimize our ability to claim a moral high ground,” added Oliver, later ridiculing Trump as a “pathological liar” so out-of-control everyone in the country should be alarmed.
Recently, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site Politifact calculated that Trump only tells the truth approximately four percent of the time, compared with 17 percent of his statements registering with the website as egregious lies.
[Featured Image by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images]
