Last Week Tonight with John Oliver talks Anthony Scaramucci, Alex Jones
Oliver of course had a field day with a guy who is “affectionately” know as The Mooch, discussing his appearance, comparing him to a Human Tanning Bed, and of course some of his famous quotes about Steve Bannon that he gave in a recent interview. Following this, we also had a segment that was all about various newscasters trying to avoid saying what Mooch said about Bannon while on the air.
This was very funny, but at the same time, very short. We have to admit that we anticipated a much larger opening of the show given everything that Oliver missed during his time on the air. Remember that the show’s been off the air for the vast majority of the month! We also figured that at one point that we would be getting an opportunity to see him talk about the Boy Scoot Jamboree. However, that didn’t happen.
Following this, John then transitioned into another subject that we honestly didn’t see him covering in a million years: Alex Jones.
Did we really need this?
It’s a good question. While we love Oliver, hasn’t the book on Jones already been written? We already know that the man is a conspiracy theorist and someone who has a history of using hateful language. John even acknowledged this at the start of the segment, saying that there are many things that may be known already about him.
Here’s the issue that we have with the Jones segment, and it’s the same one that we’ve had with many other segments from him over time on other shows: Why give him the publicity? One of the things that is allowing him to still be relevant is the attention. We actually hadn’t heard all that much about him since his Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly appearance. Yes, he does hawk a lot of terrible products, he screams a lot on the air, and he says terrible things that somehow impress the President of the United States and other people.
Yes, it’s also true that Oliver did nothing other than pick him apart in glorious fashion, and there was a lot of fun to be had about this. We’re also sure that Jones will complain and moan about this on his radio show in the days ahead.
Our sentiment as a whole, though, is that Last Week Tonight is at its best highlight people or stories that are somewhat underrepresented or need a fresh perspective. We’re not sure that Jones provides that. If you watch Last Week Tonight, odds are you’ve heard plenty about him already. We didn’t love Kelly giving him publicity, and we don’t love it here, either.
What did you think about this week’s edition of Last Week Tonight? Be sure to sound off in the attached comments!
Meanwhile, head over to the link here in the event you do want to get some additional news and insight when it comes to the show. (Photo: HBO.)