John Oliver returned to the Last Week Tonight desk on Sunday night for his first show since Nov. 16, where he was confronted by an incensed Adam Driver. So, the British comic had a lot of ground to cover, given that he’d missed everything from Trump’s unhinged election challenge, to the Capitol riot, to a bunch of Reddit bros taking on Wall Street.
“It’s been a weird time. But we have to start with the impeachment trial that took place this week,” explained Oliver.
Yes, this week former President Donald Trump was acquitted in the Senate by a vote of 57-43, with many Senate Republicans who voted against impeachment agreeing that Trump incited a treasonous coup but citing a vague (and rather dubious) constitutionality argument for their decision (basically, that you can’t impeach an ex-president).
“Democrats put on a compelling forensic case about Trump’s clear role as instigator of the January 6th riots, and in response, his attorneys mounted a defense that could be charitably characterized as ‘incoherent,’” said Oliver.
The HBO host cited Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who was also complicit in the Capitol coup and who was somehow allowed to consult with Trump’s impeachment attorneys.
“Ted Cruz even met with Trump’s lawyers while the case was still going on, and told them this,” offered Oliver, before cutting to a clip of Cruz on his podcast confessing, “I said, ‘Look, you’ve gotta remember you’ve already won.’ There are not 67 votes to convict. There are 55 votes to convict, plus-minus two.”
Oliver proceeded to mock the spineless Cruz for shamelessly choreographing the GOP Senate’s plan like a Bond villain, and called the impeachment trial “a complete charade.”
“The fact that Republicans were going to acquit the former president no matter what is a pretty depressing sign of just how deep Trumpism runs in their party,” he argued.
