John Oliver decided to break down the various scandals that have plagued both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the presidential campaign trail during Sunday’s “Last Week Tonight.”
First up, Oliver took a hard look at Clinton, going back as far as the Whitewater scandal, when Bill was governor of Arkansas, all the way up to Benghazi. Both scandals were investigated by multiple Congressional committees, but ultimately no charges were ever filed.
And of course, there’s the private email server scandal that is brought up almost daily when talking about Clinton. Oliver concluded that Clinton’s choice to use a private email server was highly questionable but ultimately not illegal.
Likewise with the Clinton Foundation, which has been accused of accepting donations from foreign governments in exchange for favors at the State Department. One example was a top Russian official donating over $2 million shortly before the U.S. sold Russia the rights to a large uranium mine.
But Oliver points out that while the timing is questionable, nine separate government agencies had to vet and sign off on the deal before it was finally approved.
And then Oliver turned his attention to Trump, or as he calls him, “America’s wealthiest hemorrhoid.” Oliver said he was able to “barely scratch the surface” of all the scandals that Trump has been at the center of this election.
But he still dove into questionable use of charitable donations to the Trump Foundation to settle Trump legal disputes, Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, and the massive ethical dilemmas that Trump’s worldwide business dealings would pose for him as President.
“This campaign has been dominated by scandals, but it is dangerous to think there’s an equal number on both sides,” Oliver said. “And you can be irritated by some of Hillary’s. That is understandable. But you should then be f—ing outraged by Trump’s.”