John Oliver on Sunday criticized Donald Trump for spreading racist conspiracy theories about the birthplace of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Remarking that Republicans scrambled to find anything they could in the way of an attack strategy when the California senator was selected for the ticket with Joe Biden, the Last Week Tonight host argued they sunk to conspiracy theories. Of course, the president chimed in to boost the nonsense, Oliver said.
“It’s a depressing resurgence of birtherism, so of course, Trump jumped all over it,” Oliver said. Trump said in a recent media conference that he “heard” the conspiracy, but did not know if it was true, a tactic that has been noted by conservative radio Rush Limbaugh, who previously said the president floats the nonsense by noting its existence, but not necessarily saying he believes it.
“It’s frankly amazing how slow Trump is to respond to so many things, like, I don’t know, a public health crisis, yet when it comes to amplifying racist conspiracy theories, suddenly he’s the fucking Flash on cocaine,” Oliver quipped.
The Last Week Tonight host also expressed concern over Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently won a Republican primary for Georgia’s 14th congressional district. Oliver highlighted that Greene is a conspiracy theorist who has a history of racist comments.
