‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ Talks Gun Control and “Weakened” NRA
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John Oliver came in hot on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight recapping Donald Trump’s “busy” week which included the largest single-state ICE raid, retweeting conspiracy theories about the death of Jeffrey Epstein and his visit to the sites of last week’s mass shootings where there was footage of him at an El Paso bragging about one of his rally crowd sizes in the city and belittling Beto O’Rourke.
“We all know the struggles to do the bare minimum of being a president,” said Oliver. “But it still generally shocking just how much he struggles to the bare minimum as a f*cking person.” This quip led to a discussion about Trump, gun control and the NRA.
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“Trump’s pathological lack of empathy should not distract us from the important question of what action if any, will be taken on guns,” Oliver asked.
Footage of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was shown speaking at a vigil for the mass shooting and as Oliver pointed out, the crowd was chanting “Do something!”, making it clear that they wanted action when it comes gun control.
“You know you are doing a bad job when people are yelling ‘Do something!’ at you,” he said. “That’s the universal complaint for men putting in less than zero percent everywhere!”
When it comes to gun reform, Oliver said one of the key obstacles is the NRA. After doing a bit where he literally pried the rifle from the cold, dead hands of former NRA president Charles Heston, he remarked: “The NRA has successfully fought legislation for decades. It is in the midst of an internal sh*t show.”
Last year, federal investigators looked into whether or not a Russian agent used the NRA to infiltrate Republican policies. On top of that, the New York attorney general looked into the NRA’s tax-exempt status because they are a non-profit. In leaked documents, there were suspicious expenditures. The documents showed that long-time CEO Wayne LaPierre was misusing member dues, spending nearly $300,000 on designer clothes. But as Oliver pointed out, his fashion sense would say otherwise.
“If you’re going to blow that much money on clothes, at least make more interesting choices than dressing like the head coach of the opposing team in a Mighty Ducks movie,” said Oliver.
The suspicious expenditures don’t stop. There were lavish travel expenses which infuriated NRA employees considering that the group has run annual deficits of as much as $40,000,000. Things got worse this week when LaPierre wanted the NRA to buy him a $6 million mansion in the wake of the Parkland shooting so that he could feel safe.
To add to all of that, board members are questioning the large amount of money paid to the ad agency Ackerman McQueen, which created and ran the now-defunct NRATV — which included a very surreal show called Love at First Shot where women create stylish outfits to conceal their handguns.
“The death of NRATV is a tragedy — thoughts and prayers to all those affected,” Oliver shaded. “The bottom line is that the first time in a while things are not looking great for the NRA.”
When it comes to gun control, Oliver said that Mitch McConnell has hinted at action on background checks but he has also refused to recall the Senate and “might well be hoping that by the time he’s back in session the pressure will be off.”
As for Trump, Oliver said that he is willing to stand up to the NRA but, “He’s also 1) a liar and 2) likely to identify with an organization that has spent itself to colossal debt, has troubling ties to Russia and is associated with sh*t TV programs and very bad taste.”
He concluded: “A weakened NRA is nice, sure, but the only way things are really to change is if lawmakers continue to feel pressure and, if I can quote that Ohio crowd, do something.”
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