The host of HBO’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ finally unloaded on the GOP
presidential frontrunner, dismantling his claims about his toughness,
wealth, and name (Drumpf!).
For months, John Oliver had kept relatively mum on the subject of Donald
J. Trump, the orange-colored, finger-wagging, fox-haired Republican
frontrunner for the presidential nomination. Perhaps it was the long
hiatus—or the fact that Trump is now the outright leader going into Super
Tuesday—but on Sunday’s Oscar night edition of his HBO program Last Week
Tonight, the wily Brit unloaded on candidate Trump.
“At this point, Donald Trump is America’s back mole: it may have seemed
harmless a year ago, but now that it’s gotten frighteningly bigger, it is
no longer wise to ignore it,” said Oliver.
The late-night host seemed to have had a fire lit under him by Trump’s
bogus claim that the program had invited him to appear on it “four or
five times” (try zero), and that Trump had said the following about
Oliver’s former Daily Show boss and mentor:
[Trump Tweet: If Jon Stewart is so above it all & legit, why did he
change his name from Jonathan Leibowitz? He should be proud of his
heritage!]
More on this later.
Oliver then continued to dismantle Trump’s exaggerations point-by-point,
staring with the claim he made to Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren that he
was “self-funded,” having contributed “probably twenty, twenty-five
million dollars” to his own presidential campaign
“While it is true that he hasn’t taken corporate money, the implication
that he has personally spent $20-25 million is a bit of a stretch,
because what he’s actually done is loaned his own campaign $17.5 million,
and has personally given just $250,000,” said Oliver. “And that’s
important because up until the convention, he can pay himself back for
the loan with campaign funds.”
He’s also, according to Oliver, taken in $7,497,984.50 in individual
contributions: “If he didn’t want it, maybe he shouldn’t have two
‘donate’ buttons on his website, because money isn’t unsolicited when you
have to ask for someone’s credit card expiration date to receive it.”
Or how about the claim that Trump is “tough?” “Well again, I’m not sure
about that, because for a tough guy he has incredibly thin skin,” said
Oliver.
He then spoke of how, in 1988, Spy magazine branded Trump a “short-
fingered vulgarian,” and the real estate baron has held a massive grudge
ever since, with the editor Graydon Carter writing, “To this day, I
receive the occasional envelope from Trump. There is always a photo of
him—generally a tear sheet from a magazine. On all of them he has circled
his hand in gold Sharpie in a valiant effort to highlight the length of
his fingers… Like the other packages, this one included a circled hand
and the words, also written in gold Sharpie: ‘See, not so short!’”
[VIDEO]
“The very fact that he’s so sensitive about [his fingers] is absolutely
hilarious, as is the fact that those notes were apparently written in
Gold Sharpie, which is so quintessentially Donald Trump: something that
gives the passing appearance of wealth, but is really just a cheap tool,”
joked Oliver.
Trump also not only received “a multi-million dollar inheritance from his
father, but he’s also lost a huge amount,” claimed Oliver, before
throwing to a clip of his daughter, Ivanka Trump, from the documentary
Born Rich.
“I remember once my father and I were walking down Fifth Avenue, and
there was a homeless person sitting outside of Trump Tower,” she recalled
in the film. “I remember my father pointing to him and saying, ‘You know,
that guy has $8 billion more than me’—because [my father] was just in
extreme debt at that point.”
“And that really shows you the indomitable spirit of Donald Trump: to
fall to his lowest point, and in that very moment, still find a way to be
kind of a dick to a homeless guy,” Oliver quipped.
And, while Trump claims to be worth in excess of $10 billion, he also
alleged in a deposition—against a biographer who claimed he was worth “a
mere $150-250 million,” according to Oliver—that his estimate of his net
worth fluctuates based on “… feelings, even my own feelings…. And that
can change rapidly from day to day.”
Huh? “He claimed that his net worth changes depending on his mood, which
makes absolutely no sense, partly because he always seems to be in the
same mood—specifically, smug yet gassy,” said Oliver.
Oliver also brought attention to Brand Trump’s many past business
failures.
“Over the years, his name has been on some things that have arguably been
very un-good, including Trump Shuttle, which no longer exists; Trump
Vodka, which was discontinued; Trump Magazine, which folded; Trump World
Magazine, which also folded; Trump University, over which he’s being
sued; and of course, the travel-booking site GoTrump.com, whose brief
existence was, I imagine, a real thorn in the side of anyone hoping
GotRump.com featured a single thing worth masturbating to,” he said.
“Trump’s lack of sound financial instincts is perhaps best exemplified by
the business that he put his name on back in 2006, just before the entire
housing market collapsed,” added Oliver. Yes, that would Trump Mortgage.
“I think it’s a great time to start a mortgage company,” a smiling Trump
says in a clip.
“Starting a mortgage company in 2006 was one of the worst decisions you
could possibly make,” said Oliver.
There’s also Trump’s flip-flopping on the issues—which Oliver claimed has
been masked by his position as a “mascot” symbolizing wealth and success.
“It’s time to stop thinking of the mascot and start thinking of the man,
because a candidate for president needs a coherent set of policies,” said
Oliver. “Whatever you think about Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, at least you
basically know where they stand, but Trump’s opinions have been wildly
inconsistent. He’s been pro-choice and pro-life, for and against assault
weapon bans, in favor of both bringing in Syrian refugees and deporting
them out of the country, and that inconsistency can be troubling.”
Cut to Sunday morning, when CNN State of the Union host Jake Tapper asked
Trump about the public endorsement by former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke,
and if he would “unequivocally condemn David Duke and say that you don’t
want his vote or that of other white supremacists in this election,” to
which Trump replied, “Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything
about David Duke, OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even
talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists… Honestly, I
don’t know David Duke. I don’t believe I’ve ever met him—I’m pretty sure
I didn’t meet him—and I just don’t know anything about him.”
“Really? That’s your best answer there?” asked a puzzled Oliver. “Because
you definitely know who he is, partly because you called him ‘a bigot’
and ‘a racist’ in the past, but that’s not even the fucking point. The
point is, with an answer like that, you are either racist or you are
pretending to be, and at some point, there is no difference there.”
[VIDEO]
The host seemed genuinely concerned about how, “We have no way of knowing
which of his inconsistent views he will hold in office,” including
Trump’s insane plan to defeat ISIS: “We’re fighting a very politically-
correct war,” he said on Fox & Friends. “The other thing is, with the
terrorists, you have to take out their families.”
“That is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination advocating a war
crime,” said Oliver. “And he might say he was joking or he’s changed his
mind about any of these things, and private individuals are allowed to
change their minds—we all do it—but when he’s sworn in as president on
January 20, 2017, on that day, his opinions are going to matter. And you
will remember that date, because it’s the one that time travelers from
the future will come back to to try and stop the whole thing from
happening.”
Oliver’s special way of combatting the Trump mystique—and the spell he’s
cast on millions of misguided Americans—is, since the name “Trump” serves
as the cornerstone of his brand, to separate the word from the man. And
wouldn’t you know, but according to journalist Gwenda Blair’s book, The
Trumps: Three Generations That Built An Empire, the name “Trump” was
changed at one point from, yes, Drumpf.
“Fucking Drumpf!” Oliver exclaimed. “Drumpf is much less magical. It’s
the sound produced when a morbidly obese pigeon flies into the window of
a foreclosed Old Navy. Drumpf. It’s the sound of a bottle of store-brand
root beer falling off the shelf in a gas station minimart. And it may
seem weird to bring up his ancestral name, but to quote Donald Trump, he
“should be proud of his heritage”—back to that Stewart tweet—because
Drumpf is much more reflective of who he actually is.”
He then pleaded with his audience—and America—to make
#MakeDonaldDrumpfGreatAgain trend, and informed viewers that they’ve not
only filed paperwork to trademark the name ‘Drumpf,’ but also purchased
the domain DonaldJDrumpf.com, where visitors can download a Drumpfinator
Google Chrome extension that will replace ‘Trump’ with ‘Drumpf’ wherever
it appears in your browser, or purchase a ‘Make Donald Drumpf Again’ hat,
which is being sold at cost.
“So if you are thinking of voting for Donald Trump, the charismatic guy
promising to ‘Make America Great Again,’ stop and take a moment to
imagine how you would feel if you just met a guy named Donald Drumpf: a
litigious, serial liar with a string of broken business ventures and the
support of a former Klan leader who he can’t decide whether or not to
condemn,” said Oliver. “Would you think he would make a good president,
or is the spell now somewhat broken?”
Source:
http://thebea.st/1nbBf3f :
--
"It's ironic that Donald Trump, hailed as the anti-establishment savior,
has supported and funded establishment and liberal causes much of his
adult life, and to this day is getting less opposition from the
establishment than bad boy Ted Cruz."--David Limbaugh
"Never underestimate the willingness of white progressives to be offended
on behalf of people who aren’t and to impose their will on those who
didn’t ask for it." (Derek Hunter)
"No doubt Hillary would like to call [Paula] Jones a liar, but Bill paid
Jones $850,000 to settle her sexual harassment suit. Can you imagine the
fun Donald Trump, for one, would have with that? Plus, it was Bill
Clinton, not Paula Jones, who was found by the presiding federal judge to
have committed perjury."--John Hinderaker