Let’s Talk: Do you agree with this talk show host’s tirade against Donald Trump?

Jon Stewart’s replacement host John Oliver has certainly made a name for himself in the last couple of year’s on the Late Show – he has a segment every Sunday where he takes on a subject or topic in the media or current affairs. His target this week? The most controversial US election candidate ever… Donald Trump.

“I get that the character of Donald Trump is entertaining, and that he says things that people want to hear,” Oliver said. “And I know that his very name is powerful”.

The comedian admitted that even he found some of Mr Trump’s comments amusing from time-to-time, but had a bone to pick with Americans who said they think Trump speaks the truth.

He started by likening Donald Trump’s notoriety to a back mole: “it may have seemed harmless a year ago, but now it’s frighteningly bigger, it’s no longer wise to ignore it”.

“Does he? Because the website PolitiFact checked 77 of his statements, and rated 76 percent of them as varying degrees of false”, Oliver countered.

“He is truly independent and not beholden to anyone” – “While it is true that he hasn’t taken corporate money, the implication that he has personally spent $20 to $25 million is a bit of a stretch, because what he’s actually done is loaned his own campaign $17.5 million and has just personally given just $250,000. And that’s important, because up until the convention he can pay himself back for the loan with campaign funds”, Oliver delivered.

“His success” – “While yes, he has made more money than most of us will make in a lifetime, not only did he get a multimillion-dollar inheritance from his father, but he’s also lost a huge amount.”

Oliver pulled punches when he said Trump was very inconsistent over the years: “He’s been pro-choice and pro-life, for and against assault weapon bans, in favour of both bringing in Syrian refugees and deporting them out of the country”.

He also took on Trump’s inconsistent statements on former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke’s endorsement of the 69-year-old billionaire. Trump vehemently denied knowing David Duke, “Okay? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.”

Oliver had a different version of events, “Really? That’s your best answer there? Because you definitely know who he is — partly because you called him ‘a bigot’ and ‘a racist’ in the past.”

John Oliver finished by saying: “If you are thinking of voting for Donald Trump, the charismatic guy promising to make America great again, stop and take a moment to imagine how you would feel if you just met a guy named Donald Drumpf, a litigious serial liar with a string of broken business ventures and the support of a former Klan leader who he can’t decide whether or not to condemn. Would you think he would make a good president, or is the spell now somewhat broken?”

That’s up to America to decide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGc2nN9OguQ

We want to know your thoughts today: do you think John Oliver is right?