John Oliver schools Trump campaign on Venn diagrams over failure to explain 'Kamabla' nickname for Harris

John Oliver criticized the diagram for being misleading, humorously illustrating its flaws with exaggerated examples
UPDATED AUG 12, 2024
John Oliver took aim at the Trump campaign’s attempts to undermine Kamala Harris, specifically mocking the nickname 'Kamabla' (Last Week Tonight/Getty images)
John Oliver took aim at the Trump campaign’s attempts to undermine Kamala Harris, specifically mocking the nickname 'Kamabla' (Last Week Tonight/Getty images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As the Trump campaign continues its attempts to discredit Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, John Oliver finds himself puzzled by a new nickname.

According to Deadline, on the latest episode of 'Last Week Tonight', Oliver voiced his confusion over Trump’s social media posts referring to Harris as “Kamabla,” and the subsequent Venn diagram created by Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung with the terms “Kama” and “bla" to explain the baffling nickname.

John Oliver slams Trump campaign’s Venn diagram

John Oliver criticized the diagram, noting that it “not only failed to explain anything, it’s not how Venn diagrams work! Not to be a total chart bitch, but I am what I am.” He then took the opportunity to clarify the purpose of a Venn diagram, offering several examples for illustration.



 

“For instance, a Venn diagram could feature one circle with dolphins and another with sharks overlapping with the shared descriptor, ‘lives in the ocean,’” he explained.

John Oliver mocks Trump campaign's diagram with absurd comparisons

He continued, “Or you could have a circle with me and another with Big Bird. With the overlap being, ‘squawks educational lessons on television.’”

Oliver further jested, “Or you can have a circle with Jenna Ortega and one with Pepé Le Pew, with the intersection, ‘can’t say where they were on 9/11.’ Does it matter that one’s fictional and one wasn’t born yet? I can’t answer that, I’m just telling you what the diagram logically highlights.”

Democratic U.S. Presidential Candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris (R), introduces Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (L) during a campaign rally at Temple University on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Harris ended weeks of speculation about who her running mate would be, selecting the 60-year-old midwestern governor over other candidates. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Democratic U.S. Presidential Candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris (R), introduces Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (L) during a campaign rally at Temple University on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Oliver concluded, “My point is, you can have lots of fun with charts, but this” - referring to Cheung’s diagram, “This right here is f**king nothing.”

Oliver slams GOP attacks on Harris and Walz

According to Daily Beast, Oliver also took aim at other GOP attacks on Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. He found Trump’s “Kamabla” nickname to be “immediately confusing” and dismissed the outrage over accusations that Walz altered the Minnesotan state flag to resemble a Somali flag as irrelevant and a stretch.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the Pennsylvania campaign rally on August 6, 2024 (@Tim_Walz/X)
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the Pennsylvania campaign rally on August 6, 2024 (@Tim_Walz/X)

Oliver noted, “What are you talking about? Have you seen flags? They’re all some combination of colors, stars, and in the case of Sicily, a three-legged monster with a head for a vagina. That’s really more of a ‘Sicily’s gonna Sicily’ situation.”

He clarified that the flag change was primarily due to objections over the depiction of a Native American, and Walz wasn’t the one pushing for the change but was simply governor at the time.

Oliver debunks JD Vance’s 'stolen valor' claim against Walz

In response to JD Vance’s claim that Walz had committed “stolen valor” by supposedly abandoning his crew before their deployment to Iraq, Oliver corrected the record.

“Walz retired in May of 2005. His unit wasn’t ordered to mobilize until July of that year and didn’t deploy to Iraq until 2006. Even the hard-right Wall Street Journal editorial board said the charges leveled so far about his military service look like thin gruel.”

CINCINNATI, OH - MAY 3:  Republican U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance arrives onstage after winning t
John Oliver refutes JD Vance's 'stolen valor' claims (Getty Images)

Oliver concluded that these baseless attacks reveal the Trump campaign’s lack of substantive criticism. “It does seem telling that so much of their attack strategy seems to boil down to a nonsense word and false accusations of stolen valor,” he said.

“Two desperate smear attempts with one thing in common: they reveal the Trump campaign has currently got absolutely nothing.”

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