John Oliver delivered an emphatic speech to “Last Week Tonight” viewers on Sunday night as he explained why he’s voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and hopes they do, too.
“I love this country. I’m an immigrant. I chose to be here,” Oliver said, appearing to choke up towards the end of his closing monologue.
“I would argue there is nothing more American than having a healthy adversarial relationship with those in power, even if you voted for them,” he added.
He acknowledged he had not given “a very uplifting speech,” but concluded with a note of optimism, predicting that if former President Donald Trump loses Tuesday’s election, “he’s basically finished.”
He acknowledged that Trump would likely first “put us through hell” before leaving the stage. Trump has laid the groundwork to again falsely claim the vote is fraudulent if he loses.
“But when the dust settled, he’d have lost two elections in a row, and he would be campaigning as an 82 year old next time,” Oliver said. “I think he’d be done. And doesn’t that sound great?”
“I know the problems that he’s a symptom of would, of course, remain, but we wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Wouldn’t it be great to live in a world where he’s no longer an active threat, just an annoyance? Where this photo could just be funny, rather than having geopolitical implications. Or he can yell about ice cream machines and complain about windmills, and we all have the option of just not giving a shit about any of it at all. I want so badly to live in that world, and I hope everyone does everything in their power in the next 48 hours to make that world possible.”
Hear Oliver’s impassioned arguments below.