John Oliver mocks RFK Jr’s campaign ad comparing it with ‘dating profile of a guy who lost custody'
WASHINGTON, DC: John Oliver dedicated a substantial portion of 'Last Week Tonight' to dismantling Robert F Kennedy Jr’s erroneous medical claims.
However, before delving into the main segment, the HBO host took a moment to lampoon the presidential candidate’s recent campaign advertisement centered around his fitness.
John Oliver riffs on RFK Jr's fitness ad
According to the Wrap, in the ad, Robert F Kennedy Jr boasts about his frequent workouts, healthy eating habits, and more, with a series of fast-paced clips showing him engaging in various physical activities.
Accompanied by a dance beat, the ad focuses solely on his physical fitness and makes no mention of his policies, seemingly aiming to highlight his health in contrast to fellow candidate Donald Trump.
Oliver couldn’t resist commenting on the ad’s tone. “Cool,” he said, after a heavy pause, on Sunday night. “To be honest, that looks less like a campaign ad, and more like the dating profile of a guy who just lost custody. And while it’s a bit weird to be working out in jeans, from one jock to another, I get it.”
Oliver continued with humor, making a series of fitness puns about his own stamina.
John Oliver highlights RFK Jr's establishment ties and extreme views
John Oliver pointed out that Robert F Kennedy Jr is “first and foremost a Kennedy,” positioning him as deeply entrenched in the establishment. While Kennedy Jr’s early career included “some genuinely laudable work” and he remains active on critical issues such as microplastics, his political stances have shifted.
He is “a lot more rightwing on certain issues that you might assume,” including his views on the war in Gaza and immigration.
Kennedy Jr has faced serious allegations, including a claim of sexual assault from a former babysitter, which he has addressed by referencing his “rambunctious youth” and hinting at numerous undisclosed issues.
Although Kennedy Jr has attempted to present himself as reasonable and open-minded on mainstream platforms, Oliver criticized him for maintaining extreme views.
This includes his persistence in an outdated theory about the origins of AIDS, attributing it to the use of poppers and lifestyle choices among gay men. Oliver described Kennedy Jr’s AIDS denialism as having “real damage,” as well as his belief that psychiatric drugs lead to school shootings.
John Oliver tackles RFK Jr’s false claims
John Oliver blasted Robert F Kennedy Jr for having “so many confident assertions” on unchallenged platforms. He showed footage of Kennedy Jr on an extremist podcast where he said he would tell a random mother with a baby not to get the child vaccinated.
“You don’t get to say ‘I’m not anti-vaxx’ then wander around the woods telling people not to vaccinate their babies like you’re some red-pilled version of Smoky the Bear,” Oliver remarked.
Kennedy Jr has also promoted the “bulls**t” theory that autism is a result of vaccinations, something that Oliver deemed “clearly absurd” while showing “a certain cruelty” toward autistic people.
“There is an earned distrust of pharma and medical authorities,” Oliver said, acknowledging that Kennedy Jr's views might be “comforting at a frightening time.”
However, Oliver stressed that Kennedy Jr's ideas “caused real harm to real people,” citing his promotion of a debunked book linking deaths of young people to Covid vaccines, despite no connection to the vaccine.
“The idea of RFK is appealing but so many of the reasons to support him do not stand up to the slightest of scrutiny,” Oliver concluded.
He also warned that Kennedy Jr's candidacy poses a risk by potentially aiding the Republicans. Notably, Timothy Mellon, a major GOP donor, has been helping to fund Kennedy Jr's campaign, raising concerns about his potential influence in the Trump administration. If Kennedy Jr were to wind up working for Trump, “it’s a f**king nightmare,” Oliver said, particularly if he were to assume a cabinet position in Health and Human Services.
