Political satirist John Oliver invited "Daily Show" viewers Monday to turn their attention to a "satirical politician": Minnesota Sen. Al Franken.
Oliver played a clip of the former "Saturday Night Live" writer and star as he explained that credit rating agencies accepted cash in exchange for signing off on risky financial deals that helped plunge the country into recession.
"Credit agencies accepted cash in exchange for Triple A ratings. That might sound to you like a bribe," Oliver said. "When actually, it's much worse than that: It's standard business practice. And don't take that from a political satirist. Take it from a satirical politician."
He then cut to 2010 footage of Franken, endorsing the work of yet another satirist: a Washington Post cartoonist who compared credit rating agencies to figure-skating judges who've been bribed. Franken, a Democrat, painstakingly explained the cartoon to his fellow lawmakers.
"Al Franken has cracked the code on how to talk to senators: As though they were 6-year-old children," Oliver said.
In 2010, Franken tried to get his fellow senators to stop banks from paying the credit rating agencies that rate their deals. It didn't work, Oliver explained.
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