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Teary-eyed John Oliver begs reluctant voters to back Harris

Summary

In an emotional monologue, John Oliver urged undecided and reluctant voters to support Kamala Harris, emphasizing her policies on Medicare, reproductive rights, and poverty reduction.

Addressing frustrations over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy, he acknowledged the struggle for many voters yet cited voices like Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who supports Harris despite reservations.

Oliver warned of the lasting consequences of a second Trump term, including potential Supreme Court shifts.

Oliver said voting for Harris would mean the world could laugh at this past week’s photo of an orange, gaping-mouthed Trump in a fluorescent vest and allow Americans to carry on with life without worrying about what he might do next.

240 comments

  • I thought it was touching where he discussed his worries about using his last opportunity to speak before the election, and that he could be left wondering if there was something else that he could have said to change the outcome if it ends up going bad. I imagine there has to be a good bit of pressure when you have such a large platform.

    For a show that points out so many wrongs with our country, it's easy to look at things negatively. But for now, at least, we are able to point out those wrongs and still have a hope we can do something about them. Not even 5 years a citizen, I imagine it could be scary as well that if a re-elected Trump goes for a type of "media reform," Oliver is likely going to be high on the list of people to be looked at.

    I hope tomorrow goes well for America. I've been disappointed the last few elections that the comedians have been more critical than the mainstream journalists, but right now, I'm glad we've had them if nothing else, motivating us to still be our best.

    • Ukraine went and elected one of those TV comedians, and, while imperfect, he's been a pretty inspiring leader over the past few years.

      • I had him in my mind writing my original comment. I don't know much about him before the war, but he seems to be doing admirable if anyone had concerns at his election.

        It's fun to turn back the clock and read old news:

        BBC: Ukrainian comedian Volodymyr Zelensky has scored a landslide victory in the country's presidential election. 22 APR 2019

        "I will never let you down," Mr Zelensky told celebrating supporters.

        Russia says it wants him to show "sound judgement", "honesty" and "pragmatism" so that relations can improve. Russia backs separatists in eastern Ukraine.

        Mr Poroshenko, who admitted defeat after the first exit polls were published, has said he will not be leaving politics.

        He told voters that Mr Zelensky, 41, was too inexperienced to stand up to Russia effectively.

        Mr Zelensky starred in the long-running satirical drama Servant of the People in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine's president.

        He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media.

        He ran under a political party with the same name as his show.

        With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky's campaign focused on his difference to the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas.

        NPR: Comedian Wins Ukrainian Presidency In Landslide 22 APR 2019

        "What's amazing is that despite Zelenskiy being a household name, people don't really know what he stands for," NPR's Moscow correspondent Lucian Kim told Morning Edition. "During the election campaign, he was very vague about his positions, and in that way he really became a blank slate for people to project whatever they wanted on him." The fact that voters chose Zelenskiy shows how desperate people are, Kim said.

        But Ukraine's outgoing president cautioned that the Kremlin is celebrating the election of an inexperienced candidate. Russia believes that "Ukraine could be quickly returned to Russia's orbit of influence," Poroshenko said on Twitter.

        According to The New York Times, many voters said they had supported Zelenskiy "not so much because they thought he was a good candidate but because they wanted to punish Mr. Poroshenko for deflating the hopes raised by Ukraine's 2014 revolution and for doing little to combat corruption."

        The Washington Post notes that Zelenskiy is just the latest comedian to win public office in elections around the world. In Guatemala, the former comic actor Jimmy Morales won the presidency on an anti-corruption platform with the slogan, "Not corrupt, not a thief." In Iceland, comedian Jón Gnarr ran for mayor as a joke candidate and won, serving one term before he stepped down in 2014. And in the U.S., Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken became a senator from Minnesota.

        Maybe laughter and self-reflection is what the world needs right now. The comedians seem to be picking things up when everyone else is dropping the ball.

  • I suggest watching the entire video from GA State Rep. Ruwa Romman that is embedded in the article. Not so much for her reasoning about why she is voting for Harris, but for her comments of how to accomplish things politically in this country, how it works, how to actually move the country forward bit by bit. It's hard and takes work and time but it can definitely be done, and her thoughts about the Green party, how it doesn't do those things and thus never accomplishes anything.

  • There needs to be a proper primary system. This choosing the candidate months in advance of the convention by some sort of fiat, no discussion of policies that candidate endorses, then having an eleven month campaign is fucking ridiculous.

    If nominees have to get up, espouse their willingness or not to commit genocide in the name of middle east oil interests, and then maybe pay a price for that by not being nominated, might have brought all this to a different end. The DNC's certainty that they know what's right for the people that support the Democrats is the reason Trump even got a first term, let alone why this race is a nailbiter.

    Their fucking arrogance and complete lack of awareness outside the oligarchic bubble they inhabit needs to have some consequences if Harris doesn't pull their pickles out of the garbage disposal and then perhaps lay back on the brown-child-murder-endorsement thing.

240 comments