John Oliver on Sunday said the Democrats' "weird" label targeting former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio also extends to a selection of Republican Senate candidates from last week's primaries in Minnesota, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
"You know it's getting to him," the "Last Week Tonight" host said after showing a clip of Trump rejecting that he had every been called "weird."
“You tried to buy Greenland. You stared at the sun during a solar eclipse. And you did this,” Oliver said, showing a photo of Trump hugging and kissing the American flag. “That’s not something a normal guy does. I don't know what a normal guy would do because I'm also not one, but I know it's not that."
The host followed by alleging that "the ‘weird’ label has been particularly hard to shake because Republican candidates further down the ballot keep compounding it, including some who won primaries just this week.”
In Minnesota, Royce White, a former NBA player, alt-right podcaster, and a “die-hard Trump supporter as he will tell you,” succeeded in becoming the state's GOP Senate candidate. Oliver aired a clip of White articulating his fervent pro-MAGA stance, in which the 33-year-old said, "Donald Trump could get up on stage, pull his pants down, take a s**t up at the podium, and I still would never vote for you f***ing Democrats again."
"Let that sink in," White added.
"Ok, it's sunk in now, and I do have some questions," Oliver quipped. "Is there a place where Trump could take a s**t that would make you vote for Democrats again? On a merry-go-round? Would that make you vote for them? What if he s**t inside a gumball machine — would you vote for Democrats then? Or if you went into your bathroom, put the toilet lid down, and s**t on the toilet instead of in it, would you at least consider voting for an independent who caucuses with the Democrats? You know what, let that sink in, and just get back to me."
As Oliver noted, White has been endorsed by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon and radical conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, has claimed that he's unsure that a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, and posted a map he purported to be of Minneapolis' crime hot spots that was actually just a map of the city's drinking fountain locations.
Hung Cao, the Republican Senate candidate in Virginia, is likewise a "very strange man," Oliver said, before playing footage of Cao speaking about a location in Monterey, California called Lover's Point. Cao in the clip alleges that Monterey has become a "dark place" proliferated by the Wiccan community. "We can't let that happen in Virginia," the conservative said.
“If Monterey is actually overrun by witches — which it’s not — I’m frankly furious there wasn’t a witchcraft storyline on 'Big Little Lies'!” Oliver jested, referring to the popular HBO show. "How could you deprive us of Nicole Kidman showing up to a moonlit orgy and announcing, 'We come to this place for magic.' Everyone's head would have exploded!"
While Oliver argued that White and Cao are unlikely to win, other GOP candidates like Wisconsin businessman Eric Hovde — who the host referred to as “Ned Flanders without the raw sexual charisma" — do have a fighting chance. The Trump-endorsed Hovde this week won the primary "easily," according to the Associated Press, moving on to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Hovde, the CEO of Sunwest Bank, has "taken some flak," however, for spending a significant amount of time at a property he owns in California. It's "something he tried to deflect," Oliver argued, with a video of himself doing a cold plunge in a lake.
"The Dems and Senator Baldwin keep saying I'm not from Wisconsin, which is a complete joke," Hovde said in the footage, which Oliver displayed. "Alright Senator Baldwin, why don't you get out here in this frozen lake, and let's really see who's from Wisconsin."
“Challenging someone to meet you in a frozen lake to score political points is pathetic," Oliver said. "I’d say it was a d**k-measuring contest, but I’m guessing given the temperature of that water yours has disappeared into your body right now.”
“Look, I get Republicans want to get out from under accusations of weirdness," the host continued. "But the way to do that is by stop being so f***ing weird. Because fantasizing about your party’s presidential candidate shitting in front of you? That’s weird. Warning everyone about the influence of Monterey witches? Weird. Inviting your female opponent to join you in a frozen lake? That is very weird."
“And I do apologize for laughing at these people," Oliver added. "Partly because I know it’s not nice, but mainly because as we all now know, JD Vance believes every time someone laughs somewhere in the world, a child loses their groceries for some reason.”
