John Oliver tackled America’s mental health problem on Sunday, using Republican presidential candidates as symbols of the lack of seriousness on the issue.
“Perhaps the clearest sign of just how little we want to talk about mental health is that one of the only times it’s actively brought up is, as we’ve seen yet again this week, is in the aftermath of a mass shooting as a means of steering the conversation away from gun control,” the HBO satirist said.
Oliver then played a series of clips of Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee responding to mass shooting by calling for an enhanced focus on mental health.
“It seems there is nothing like a mass shooting to suddenly spark political interest in mental health,” he continued. “Although it’s worth noting that Governor Huckabee’s state [Arkansas] got a grade of D- on mental health care while he was in office. And you can’t lecture people on something you got a D- in.”
“If we’re going to constantly use mentally ill people to dodge conversations about gun control, then the very least we owe them is a f–king plan,” Oliver concluded.
Watch the video above.