Republicans might still be fighting among themselves over who shall lead them as the next Speaker of the House, and John Oliver on Sunday night flicked through the options, while also singling out a mayoral candidate in Tennessee for her outrageous claims.
Oliver couldn’t help himself first, though, in noticing that temporary House speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), looks like “Patton Oswalt as a ventriloquist dummy” who’s “dressed like a 4-year-old who’s going to fuck up the whole wedding.”
And Oliver was flabbergasted to find out that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) once described himself as “David Duke without the baggage.” Oliver added: “To describe yourself as David Duke—the former grand wizard of the KKK—without the baggage is a choice, because that man is all baggage. Without it, he’s just a crypt keeper with a patchy bleach job.”
ADVERTISEMENT
But they’re not making claims as outrageous as Gabrielle Hanson, a town alderman and real estate agent in Franklin, Tennessee, running against the incumbent Republican mayor this November. “She’s branded herself as a hardcore MAGA candidate,” Oliver said, while showing photos of Hanson at Donald Trump’s Florida refuge, Mar-a-Lago. “Look how happy she is there. That’s the face of someone who’s just dined out on a well-done steak and read some classified documents on the toilet.”
Hanson unsuccessfully attempted to block a Pride event being held in a city park in April, and in a meeting, using her status as alderman, she held up a photo of a participant in an Elmo outfit and described the person as a confusing danger to children.
This past week, Hanson was seen showing up to government meetings with bodyguards who have affiliations with neo-Nazi groups and the Proud Boys.
“But by that logic, we should ban children from walking around Times Square, too,” Oliver retorted. “Because seeing Olaf from Frozen with his head popped off, smoking a black and mild is way more confusing than someone wearing eye shadow in an Elmo-themed body suit,” he continued.
But that Tennessee Elmo wasn’t just any drag queen. It was Jaidynn Diore Fierce—a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 7, btw—whom Oliver defended “because she’s constantly serving cartoon looks,” adding: “Have you ever seen a Minion serve body? Because you have now.”
Besides, it turns out Hanson’s own husband participated in a Chicago Pride Parade in 2008, wearing nothing but an American flag Speedo while running for Congress that year. Hanson later told an interviewer that she had dared him to don the Speedo.
“So to recap,” Oliver said. “Snatched Elmo: Irreparably harmful to children. Star-spangled ball bag: That’s apparently completely fine with her.” To add further insult, Oliver also wondered aloud if Hanson’s husband was “tucking” inside his Speedo.
Oliver also dressed down Hanson for trying to convince the Nashville airport to shut down a Juneteenth celebration: “With all due respect, you’re talking to an airport, Gabrielle. It doesn’t care about you. It doesn’t care about anyone. It’s an airport.”
But that’s not nearly as embarrassing as when Hanson posted an Instagram photo claiming she was dining with a diverse group of supporters, only for one of the women to come forward on local TV to claim they don’t even know who Hanson is. Oliver’s reply: “Wow. Not only are those women clearly not your friends, you definitely just united them against you.”
Hanson also got caught in another lie, claiming she had told a police officer about her premonitions of a school shooting in Nashville; problem was, this cop actually recorded the whole conversation on his body camera. Hanson tried doubling down in a separate interview by suggesting actress Melissa Joan Hart must’ve also known beforehand about the shooting simply because she helped people fleeing the scene.
“That’s not something an elected official should say in an interview,” Oliver said. “It’s what a Disney Channel exec probably screamed in 2002 after inhaling a metric ton of cocaine.”
“In a world that made sense, this woman would obviously have withdrawn from this mayoral race in shame. But she still has supporters.” Oliver continued, flummoxed.
“And there’s a real chance she could still win this election, because while her numerous scandals are clearly almost cartoonish in their extremity, her behavior is entirely emblematic of Republican politics, from the local level all the way up to the top.”
