Since Kamala Harris’ presidential election defeat last Tuesday, many disappointed voters have criticized the Democratic party for a misdirected campaign that ultimately lost them the election — including their prioritization of celebrity endorsements, an excessive focus on social issues, such as abortion rights instead of the economy, and ignoring large parts of the population, such as young, male voters.
However, John Oliver is urging people to stop playing the blame game. “It’s still too early to have a definitive answer to that [how Harris lost] but that doesn’t stop people from making big changes,” the comedian and political commentator said during his first late night episode since the election.
“People are pointing fingers in every direction, from Latino voters to young men to Joe Rogan,” he continued. “You can basically play your own ‘Wheel of Blame’ and generally make sure it lands on whoever you were mad at in the first place. And honestly, I understand the call. It’s fun to blame people. Trump was literally elected president again on a platform to do exactly that.”
Oliver went on to take a swipe at the least likely Democratic scapegoat: Katy Perry.
“Personally, I would like to imagine that everything that happened is Katy Perry’s fault,” Oliver joked, referring to the singer’s appearance at Kamala Harris’ final rally the night before Election Day, where she hosted three of her own sang songs before tackling a cover of Whitney Houston’s 1986 classic, “Greatest Love of All.”
“Why would you try to beat Whitney Houston?”
Oliver then discussed Trump’s initial candidates for the team he plans to bring to the White House, including the world’s richest man and top Trump donor Elon Musk. Trump has indicated he is interested in tapping SpaceX’s founder to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, where he would cut costs and streamline the federal bureaucracy.
However, Oliver says he’s not concerned about Musk’s major involvement beyond regulating his own companies. “I don’t see him reading through the federal budget line by line.”
Finally, he ended the show by talking about the “phase of grief” he is currently in after the election: anger – especially for the marginalized communities, such as immigrants, transgender people and women, who are most threatened by a Trump presidency.
“But don’t try to completely erase yourself in despair,” he ended the show. “Despair doesn’t help anything. If anything, it just makes things worse.”