John Oliver thoroughly enjoyed seeing the results of the midterm elections break in favor of Democrats this year. But what he enjoyed more was seeing pundits on Fox News “telling on themselves” as they went “scrambling for answers” on why a red wave didn’t happen.
To kick off the show, Oliver admitted that Democrats did “surprisingly well” in the midterms, considering how much of a red wave was predicted. Then, the “Last Week Tonight” host pulled up a supercut of footage from Fox News after the elections, wherein the hosts tried to find somewhere to place blame for the Democrats’ success.
That included people like Jesse Watters, who blamed single women (and encouraged men to “put a ring on it” to prevent that), people of color and young voters, who “are coming in so strong on an off year,” which apparently is “very concerning.”
Oliver took particular amusement with Raymond Arroyo, who argued Democrats were “deliberate” in what they “offered” young voters: “recreational drugs, abortion, paid-off student loans.” Arroyo went on to note that Democrats had “actionable policies that they were promising to advance — and also climate change.”
“We just don’t have time to go into all the ways that they are telling on themselves there, from being appalled that young people were voting to admitting that they have zero actionable policies,” Oliver mocked. “And adding climate change as a complete afterthought is a pretty fun way to end that. A nice little cherry on top of a what the f— have we done sundae.”
Shifting his focus away from pundits though, Oliver touched on the now possibly very real possibility of Florida governor Ron DeSantis running for president in 2024.
“The prospect of a President DeSantis is just one of the many worrying things that came underneath all of the good news on Tuesday,” Oliver said.
The host also pointed out that Republicans could still regain control of the House of Representatives, and if they do, they will likely try to “jam up Biden for the next two years with stunts,” like perhaps “an investigation into Biden’s Peloton ride history.” Oliver also worried that the Georgia runoff election could still send Herschel Walker to the Senate.
In short, The “Last Week Tonight Host” noted that Democrats “still have a lot of work to do,” but added that, for now, they should celebrate.
