On Sunday night, John Oliver took a break from dunking on Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson’s racist news coverage to address what was sadly one of the biggest stories of the past week: President Donald Trump’s continued spreading of misinformation surrounding the novel coronavirus, which has killed over 157,000 people in the U.S.
“Recklessness is abounding right now, heightening the need for strong leadership. And unfortunately, we’re getting the opposite of that,” said John Oliver, before pointing to Trump’s “shockingly reckless” co-sign of Dr. Stella Immanuel, aka “Dr. Demon Sperm,” whose video of her cosplaying as a “frontline doctor” racked up tens of millions of views and was shared by both the president and his son. Dr. Immanuel, who only recently acquired a license to practice medicine in the U.S., has been pushing the ineffective COVID-19 “cure” hydroxychloroquine and believes, among other things, that real-life ailments like tumors and cysts stem from the demon sperm that is accumulated after a demon has sex with you in your dreams.
“That’s pretty upsetting coming from a doctor. You’d expect that bullshit from some idiot who claims to know about medicine but doesn’t have a medical license like, I don’t know, your dipshit uncle or Dr. Phil, but from a licensed medical professional that is wildly irresponsible,” said the Last Week Tonight host.
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He added, “She’s also reportedly claimed that alien DNA is used in medical treatments; the government is run by reptilians; and scientists are cooking up a vaccine to prevent people from becoming religious,” explained Oliver, citing an article by The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer, who broke the story. “And when her comments were pointed out to the president, he refused to back down.”
Yes, Trump has defended Dr. Stella Immanuel multiple times—including during a press conference. “She was on air, along with many other doctors. They were big fans of hydroxychloroquine, and I thought she was very impressive,” bellowed Trump. “From where she came—I don’t know which country she comes from—but she said that she’s had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients, and I thought her voice was an important voice but I know nothing about her.”
“Wow. He thinks her voice is ‘important’ but admits to knowing nothing else about her. That is not the philosophy you want when vetting medical experts,” said Oliver, later adding, “The most powerful idiot of all [Trump] is costing people their lives. And it is past time that we start protecting each other and taking this seriously.”
