John Oliver was excited to show off his new glass desk at Last week tonight before turning to the Trump administration for his handling of the Portland protests that have been going on for the past two months since George Floyd’s death.
Protests in Portland have prompted the deployment of federal agents. As a result, there have been video footage of camouflaged agents arresting protesters and putting them in unmarked cars. A news report shows a Navy veteran who was beaten and sprayed with pepper by officers after he attempted to have a civil conversation with them.
“That is intense and frankly, it says a lot about this country right now,” said Oliver. “CNN will show federal agents that they treat a human being like a piñata and will censure the same man for legitimately telling those agents to screw themselves.”
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Oliver points out that the deployment of federal agents is a “sharp escalation of questionable legality,” something not new to the Trump administration. In a news clip, Donald Trump is seen saying that they are doing a “great job” in Portland when it comes to the protests and that “many people are in jail right now.”
“It is never good when Trump says he is doing a ‘great job’ given that he thinks the administration is doing a ‘great job’ dealing with the coronavirus and once proclaimed that Ben Affleck would do a great job as Batman,” Oliver joked. “Clearly, this man has no idea what a ‘great job’ really is like.”
Turns out, Oregon Governor Kate Brown did not want federal agents to be there and said they should be removed from the streets. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said the same thing during a press interview, shamelessly saying, “We want them to go.”
Oliver points out the obvious and says, “Masked people who throw people in unmarked trucks is never a good idea if they want to de-escalate a situation.” He adds that the protests have been mostly peaceful, but there have been isolated incidents where local police have overreacted, earning Wheeler the nickname “Teddy Gas Teddy”.
There have been rioters and disfigurers during these protests, but as seen in a news clip, the protests have been contained in one block from the city. In fact, there were fewer clashes between protesters and police before federal agents were called.
However, Fox News has been reporting it as “left-wing violence.” During a report, Sean Hannity listed all the violence that occurred in Portland when most of it was graffiti. Oliver points out that the violence is an exaggeration and “Hannity’s tone does not reflect conditions on the ground.”
Oliver stated: “The problem here is that Portland appears to be being used as a stage for the President to make an authoritative show of force, and this could end very badly, especially since he has now threatened to use force fed in other cities.” so it’s absolutely outrageous. “
He added: “If you, like Trump, think it’s fun to use federal troops in support to crush the constitutional right to assemble like a great American, I would like to offer you a basic cognitive test.” Then he held up two middle fingers, “How many fingers am I holding?”
