In addition to his past scandals, which include spending loads of taxpayer money on first-class flights and fancy hotels, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt came under fire this past week after it emerged he’d spent $3 million of your money on a 20-person security detail in order to attend the Rose Bowl and Disneyland, among other things.
“OK, so I’m a little torn on this one,” said John Oliver. “Because on the one hand, that does seem wasteful, but on the other hand, if anyone needs security at Disneyland, it’s Scott Pruitt—a man who even Mickey and Minnie Mouse would tell to go fuck himself.”
“This is a pretty sudden fall from grace for Pruitt, who’s been a conservative favorite for his aggressively pro-industry stance,” Oliver added, citing Scott Pruitt’s LinkedIn page, which still describes him as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda.”
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The Last Week Tonight host dedicated a large portion of Sunday night’s program to Trump appointee Pruitt’s myriad embarrassments, including an appearance last week on Fox News where he was confronted about reports that he’d bypassed the White House to give raises to his favorite aides, and his unbelievable $50-a-night deal for a room at a lobbyist’s tony condo in Washington, D.C. (actually, Pruitt paid $6,100 over six months, or a little over $1,000 a month).
“That should not have been done,” Pruitt told Fox News of the unsanctioned raises. “I don’t know [who did it]. I found out about this yesterday, and I corrected the action.” Of the condo kerfuffle, he offered, “They’ve said that it was market rate.”
So Oliver pointed to a few places on Airbnb in the same D.C. area that advertised for around $50 a night, including a couple of pretty sketchy beds to sleep on and “a leather couch named Black Beauty.”
Taxpayers even wound up forking over $2,460 for a repair at the apartment after Pruitt was found unresponsive in his bathroom and security had to break down the door. According to reports, Pruitt was just napping.
“The day that happened was a Wednesday. So on top of everything else, the director of the EPA was sitting at home taking a nap in the middle of the day on a Wednesday,” said Oliver. “Get the fuck up, Pruitt! You’ve got a country to ruin!”
Many thought Pruitt would be fired last week, but instead Trump offered his support, saying he thought the pro-industry Pruitt had “done a fantastic job at EPA… he’ll be fine.”
“Who knows why he thinks that,” wondered Oliver. “Maybe it’s because Pruitt’s doing exactly what Trump wants him to do—dismantling the EPA and wrecking the environment. Or maybe Trump just now knows that if you want to get rid of Scott Pruitt, you’re going to have to kick his door down, wake him up from a nap, drag him out, and eventually change the fucking locks.”
