Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe was officially ousted from the organization this month, and for John Oliver, it’s certainly not hard to bid farewell to “alt-right Borat.”
Facing allegations of mistreating his employees and misusing company funds funds — to the point that Project Veritas is at risk of losing its non-profit classification — O’Keefe resigned on Feb. 20, posting a 45-minute resignation video online (something that Oliver had a good laugh at based on the length of it alone).
Still, while the “Last Week Tonight” host dubbed O’Keefe “basically alt-right Borat,” Oliver pointed out that conservative hosts and pundits are sticking with O’Keefe, and expressing their outrage over his ouster. That said, when Steve Bannon said “James O’Keefe is a national treasure, full stop,” Oliver steadfastly disagreed.
“Wow. Strong words there from the Ghost of Christmas Been-Dead-for-Three-Weeks,” he mocked. “But I have to disagree. The only national treasures in this country are Dolly Parton, Pedro Pascal and Cocaine Bear.”
Looking at O’Keefe’s actual infractions, Oliver poked fun at the many musical productions O’Keefe was part of — including a scrapped stage special telling the story of his life, which O’Keefe previewed at a Turning Point USA event and seemingly used Project Veritas funds to create.
“But honestly, good for him! I would so much rather he use that money to live out his misplaced Billy Elliot dreams, instead of trying to take down NPR with his prank show pseudo-journalism,” Oliver joked.
In the grand scheme of things, Oliver argued that O’Keefe’s rise and fall may have been the best case scenario for the man.
“Honestly, in the end, the best and worst thing I can say for James O’Keefe is that he is not actually the hero the conservative movement needs,” Oliver said. “But he is definitely the one that it deserves.”
