John Oliver highlights 'disqualifying' moment for Trump in his presidential debate with Harris

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: John Oliver and his 'Last Week Tonight' team, fresh from winning an Emmy, took to the airwaves to discuss the recent presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Oliver focused on Trump's startling assertion that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were allegedly abducting and consuming cats and dogs. He introduced the clip by labeling it an “exceptional moment in American oratory.”

John Oliver calls out Trump's claims as reflective of a troubling political climate

According to the Daily Week, in the debate, Trump stated, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Oliver responded, “Yeah, that was Donald Trump accusing Haitian immigrants of killing and eating people’s pets. And can you even remember a time when something like that would have been disqualifying? Because I can’t anymore. Republicans have now nominated Trump three times. Democrats have so far lost to him half the time. And the election is still inexplicably close because unfortunately, some Americans watched that and thought, ‘I don’t like how Kamala laughed when he called immigrants dog eaters. That wasn’t very presidential.’”

Oliver acknowledged that time has passed since the debate, during which there have been “plenty of cat-eating jokes.” He emphasized the ongoing chaos Trump caused in Springfield and remarked that it encapsulates his campaign, pointing out that “city officials insist there is no evidence of what Trump confidently spewed to 67 million people.”

John Oliver highlights Trump’s echoing of Vance’s absurd claims

The host noted that Trump was echoing a claim from his running mate JD Vance.

He displayed a tweet from Vance dated September 9, which read, “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio. Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”

Oliver humorously suggested that Vance’s tweet implies that “eating pets is a right reserved for natural-born Americans.” He criticized Vance further, who, when questioned about his tweet, insisted he was merely reflecting the concerns of his constituents.

Oliver played a clip of Vance saying, “The media has tried to say now for days that I’ve made up this story. I haven’t made up anything. I’ve just listened to people who are telling me these things.”

Oliver quipped, “Wait — ‘if enough people say it, I repeat it’? It is not ideal when an aspiring vice president’s guiding philosophy is indistinguishable from a fucking parrot.”

Through his sharp wit, Oliver underscored the absurdity of the claims and the current political climate, questioning how such rhetoric can persist without being seen as disqualifying in the political arena.