Yossi Gestetner writes:
I do not support Trump at this time, but John Oliver pulled a Trump on you. Here is how
The 22 minute production by John Oliver's team was a great spiel. The argument of the monologue was that Trump is taking everyone on a ride; except of course Oliver is the one who is taking you on a ride
First he says Trump is not self-funding his campaign because he "loaned" - did not donate - money to his campaign. Oliver does not tell you that in most cases these loans are one way streets. It's an effective donation. Then Oliver says Trump actually accepted $7 million in donations "proving" he is not self-funding. Well, Hillary raised $180M, Cruz $104M, and Sanders $96M and counting. Trump the GOP frontrunner since July 2015 got only $7 million in donations. This actually shows Trump does not actively solicit donations; he just does not reject it. Oliver however has you believe that $7 million in donations proves the opposite of what it proves.
Oliver spends a third of his monologue mocking Trump's business record. Good job, and yes Trump had a leg-up in business with his father's wealth. But there are plenty of millionaires whose sons played with their money yet they and their sons are in the dustbins of history. Donald on the other hand built up his father net worth to levels Fred - his father - never had on his own. And despite being wiped out in the early 1990s, Donald came back and is a consistent billionaire ever since; not too many people have done it on his level. According to Forbes, Trump is worth 4.5 billion; this is 18 times more than what Fred was reportedly worth when he died in 1999. Not too many people - with or without their father's help - have been on the Forbes list so many times as Trump; especially after a wipeout. Any joker (or GOP operative) can produce an equally-destructive yet more honest video against Hillary's Foreign Policy "successes"; thus discrediting one of Hillary's claims to the throne
Oliver says Trump was on both sides of all the issues over the years. This claim is also used by Trump opponents in the GOP, but the same can be said about "stupid" Democrats voting for Hillary. Mrs. Clinton changed on most major issues! On many of them - including marriage equality, amnesty for undocumented immigrants, criminal justice - Hillary shifted only in recent years with an eye on a White House run. Half the reason Democrats vote for Hillary is because of her last name, but there is hardly any major Clinton Era policy that the Democrats of today still support. Hillary's signature action in the Senate is voting for the Iraq war; yet Dems are about to crown her
A credible thing Oliver played up was Trump saying the U.S needs to kill families of terrorists. Crazy talk? Last year the NYT reported that according to a "very rough estimate" compiled by an expert, 3,852 people have been killed from U.S. drone strikes; mostly civilians - including American citizens - and mostly since Obama came into office. Trump is guilty of saying things done under Obama, but few Oliver viewers are aware of it
In closing Oliver makes fun of Trump's name. Cute. On merit however, Oliver did to his viewers what he says Trump does to you or what can be done against Hillary times over