Type keyword(s) to search

Quick Hits

John Oliver: Trump Leaving W.H.O. Is 'Dumbest Thing We Could Possibly Do'

  • Leaving the W.H.O. in the middle of this pandemic, John Oliver says, "is one of the most ill-advised, dumbest things we could possibly do, and I mean that f***ing literally."

    "This is just another example of Trump seeing something that involves shared sacrifice, trade-offs, and complexity and deciding to just blow it up. because he either doesn't understand it, doesn't care, or both," he said on last night's Last Week Tonight. "We've seen this with the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, and now he's doing it with the World Health Organization, and this is incredibly dangerous."

    Oliver gave us a detailed explanation of what the W.H.O. actually does and why Trump's criticisms of it have some merit, but not in the way he claims, and that leaving now is "like taking the fire engines away in the middle of fighting the fire."

    After a clip of Trump calling us "suckers" for paying more than China does in the W.H.O., Oliver says "Now, you are probably already assuming that it's more complicated than that, and it is. The problem is that Trump is incapable of acknowledging nuance. In his world, you're either f***ing someone, or you're getting f***ed, and that's not a great perspective when it comes to cooperating on global health. It's not even a great perspective when it comes to an orgy. Sure, there's going to be a lot of both going on, but those can't be the only options."

    Last Week Tonight with John Oliver airs Sunday nights at 11:00 PM ET.

    People are talking about Last Week Tonight in our forums. Join the conversation.

    Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.

    TOPICS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, John Oliver, Trump Presidency