John Oliver Fights Back Tears As He Goes Off On Trump & Explains Police Brutality — ‘It’s Frankly Sickening’

John Oliver finds it 'sickening' and 'f**king disgusting' how protesters are being treated by police, and how President Trump is using George Floyd's name to promote his accomplishments.

By:
Reading Time: 2 minute
June 8, 2020 9:57AM EDT
John Oliver Donald Trump
View gallery
A person walks past a graffito showing late George Floyd, in Berlin, Germany, 30 May 2020. A bystander's video posted online on 25 May, appeared to show George Floyd, 46, pleading with arresting officers that he couldn't breathe as an officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The unarmed black man later died in police custody. A series of demonstrations throughout the German capital, calling for ending of the social and economical restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The events are organised by groups of various motives, right wing activists, conspiracy theory believers and more, several counter demonstrations by left leaning organisations were also taking place. Anti-restrictions protests and counter demos in Berlin, Germany - 30 May 2020
Mayor Bill de Blasio, third from left, participates in painting Black Lives Matter on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower, in New York. The mayor's wife, Chirlane McCray, is fourth from left and Rev. Al Sharpton is second from left Racial Injustice , New York, United States - 09 Jul 2020
People pose with a new Black Lives Matter mural outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York. Black Lives Matter mural, New York, USA - 09 Jul 2020
Image Credit: Shutterstock

John Oliver held back tears during a breathtaking episode of Last Week Tonight devoted to discussing the scourge of police brutality in the United States, and Donald Trump‘s “f**king disgusting” response to the protests. “All week long, protesters have continued to fill the streets in all 50 states in the wake of the horrific murder of George Floyd by the police,” Oliver said on the June 7 episode. “And in response to those protests, which have been a stirring pushback against institutional racism and brutality, it’s been frankly sickening to see them met with this.”

https://twitter.com/a_fly_guy/status/1269843589053513728

Peaceful have been met with violence from police shielded by riot gear, who have teargassed and pepper sprayed them, thrown flash bombs, and shot them with rubber bullets. Though rubber bullets are “less than lethal,” they still cause massive injuries. Journalist Linda Tirado was blinded after being shot with one while reporting on live TV.

“If police are trying to convince the public they’re not guilty of displaying excessive force, it’s probably not a good idea to repeatedly display excessive force on national television — including in this city, where Mayor [Bill] de Blasio praised them for their ‘tremendous restraint’ and Governor [Andrew] Cuomo threatened to send in the National Guard,” Oliver explained.

The talk show host went over just a few of the more outrageous things President Trump has done since the protests began in Minneapolis, including allegedly cowering in a bunker as protesters demonstrated in DC. “Now as for the president himself, he initially hid from the protesters in a bunker, later claiming he wasn’t hiding, he was just ‘inspecting’ it,” Oliver joked. “Then, his attorney general had police gas protesters outside the White House so that Trump could have an inexplicable photo op at a nearby church while holding up a Bible like it’s the ticket for his sandwich order that was just called.

“He also, in announcing jobs numbers on Friday, invoked George Floyd’s name, saying, ‘This is a great day for him,’ which is utterly f**king disgusting,” Oliver continued. “If you said the name ‘Macy’s’ more than you said the name ‘Breonna Taylor’ this week, you can very much f**k off.” Oliver ended the episode in tears, sharing a speech from activist Kimberly Jones whose words had been “echoing around my head.” Watch Kimberly speak HERE.