John Oliver fought back tears while sharing his hopes for the result of the US election.
The 2024 presidential election is drawing to a close after a chaotic few weeks that saw Donald Trump widely mocked for a series of viral stunts and many celebrities come forward with their endorsements, including a rather surprising choice from former Republican politician Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, the British-born comedian Oliver, who became a US citizen in 2019, focused his attention on the election with just one day to go, officially revealing he will be voting for Kamala Harris.
He told viewers: “Elections alone aren’t efficient for large-scale change, but they’re absolutely necessary for it to ever happen. Because it’s the day you essentially get to choose who you’d prefer to be pushing for the next four years and where you’ll be pushing them from.”
Oliver grew emotional as he continued: “Look, I love this country. I’m an immigrant. I chose to be here. In the words of the late, great Lee Greenwood, ‘I’m proud to be an American.’ And I’d argue there is nothing more American than having a healthy, adversarial relationship with those in power, even if you voted for them.”
While Oliver usually uses his show as a means of lampooning Trump, his speech showed the comedian in rare serious form as he said he believes a loss for Trump would mean he is “done”.
“I know he would put us through hell before he left the stage, but when the dust settled, he’d have lost two elections in a row and would be campaigning as an 82-year-old next time,” Oliver said, adding: “I think he’d be done – and doesn’t that sound great?”
He added: “I know, the problems that he’s a symptom of would of course remain, but we wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Wouldn’t it be great to live in a world where he’s no longer an active threat, just an annoyance?”
Oliver said that he “so badly wants to live in that world”, stating: “I hope everyone does everything in their power in the next 48 hours to make that world possible.”
