John Oliver Rips President Trump Over Early Response To Virginia Violence


Last Week Tonight host John Oliver didn’t find President Trump’s initial response to the deadly actions of a white supremacist at an “alt right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., to be a laughing matter.

The president has since come out with a far more forceful statement condemning the race-hatred fueled death of Heather Heyer, 32, but by then Oliver insists the damage had already been done.

“It’s the kind of tragedy that calls for true leadership from whoever is in the Oval Office,” the Los Angeles Times reported Oliver reflected during the show’s latest episode. “There honestly aren’t that many instances in modern American politics where you can honestly think, ‘That guy really should have mentioned the Nazis,’ but this is emphatically one of them.”

In the wake of the tragedy and tepid way he initially handled things, Trump has faced a firestorm of criticism that has included harsh assessments from both Democrats and Republicans.

None of it has been any more blistering than the words of Oliver, who intimated he thinks he’s come to understand why Trump seems to have the unwavering support of such an undesirable group, with noted white nationalist David Duke muttering in the wake of the demonstration and the tragedy it led to, “we’re going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.”

With that, Oliver opined, “Nazis are a lot like cats. If they like you, it’s probably because you’re feeding them.”

USA Today reports Trump went nearly 48 hours before finally directly addressing those who had come to the center of town dressed in militia-type garb and openly carrying weapons to protest the city’s planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Donald Trump speaks with media about Virginia violence. [Image by Chris Kleponis/Getty Images]

“Incredibly, in a country where previous presidents have actually had to defeat Nazis, we now have one who cannot even be bothered to condemn them,” Oliver added of Trump.

James Alex Field, 20, of Ohio has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of driving a vehicle into a crowd in connection with Heyer’s death and is being held without bond.

In addition to her death, 19 others were injured and two Virginia police officers heading to the scene were killed when their helicopter crashed. The officers have been identified as Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, 40, of Quinton.

John Oliver performs at Caroline’s in New York City. [Image by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images]

Oliver has long been a vocal critic of the president, previously blasting him as a “pathological liar” after he publicly claimed on the day he was sworn in as the nation’s 45th president it was rain-free and the size of the crowd far superseded the number of onlookers on hand for Barack Obama’s inauguration.

From that, Oliver deduced that if Trump is willing to bear falsehoods about such trivial matters, there is no way he can be trusted to share hard truths.

[Featured Image by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images]

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