‘Far too little stomach’: John Oliver criticizes Democrats’ absence amid President Trump’s attacks on the federal government
John Oliver has finally returned to Last Week Tonight after the show’s hiatus. Despite not having been around during President Trump’s inauguration, Oliver had much to say about Trump’s whirlwind first month in office.
Oliver wastes no time recapping every questionable decree from President Trump since January. From antagonizing Canada, attacking diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI), to conducting mass deportation. These are just among the Trump administration’s slew of agendas, but Oliver also makes quick note of Steve Bannon’s strategy. Bannon, who heavily supports Trump, talked about “flooding the zone” in order to overwhelm the media. Amid the noise, Oliver decided to focus on the Trump administration’s move to gut the government.
The host chimed that Musk treated the firing of federal workers as if it were the Beast Games—take the money or risk being eliminated. Those hired in the Department of Government Efficiency also have dubious credentials. It’s difficult to ignore when DOGE, tasked with downsizing the federal government, has employees that call themselves “big balls” online. Perhaps it’s even worse when the same employee was fired from a data security firm. They allegedly leaked information to a competitor.
Where’s the opposition?
Simply put, Oliver describes the chaos through a viral TikTok song. It seems that TikTok agrees that a “hostile government takeover” is happening, remixes included. But amid the lamenting the decay of government institutions, Oliver raises an important critique against the Democratic Party. “When it comes to Congressional Democratic leaders, they’ve sometimes shown far too little stomach for the fight.” He argued that this should’ve been a situation that Democrats should’ve been prepared to address. After all, this is Trump’s second presidency.
Oliver isn’t alone in raising that concern. Social media users have often asked, “Where are the Democratic leaders?” in the face of Trump’s attacks. Some even feel as though that the Democratic Party takes the stance of helplessness too often. Democratic leadership has at least been protesting Musk’s forced shutdown of USAID, but this isn’t the only issue that should be given light. One issue isn’t enough—the mass deportations, the attacks on trans folks in healthcare, and the mass purging of federal workers are all issues worth getting enraged about. Showing some rage about the situation may seem performative, but it may be what people need to hear while Bannon and friends blitz the news.
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