John Oliver Slams Democrats ‘Bending Over Backwards’ for Trump

Alyssa Norwin March 10, 2025, 8:15 am

john oliver on last week tonight — HBO/YouTube

John Oliver recapped Donald Trump‘s joint session of Congress speech on the Sunday, March 9, episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. During his monologue, he specifically addressed Democrats’ reaction to the president’s address.

Pointing out that some Democratic politicians didn’t even show for the joint session, the late night host said, “In hindsight, no-showing might have been the right more because Democrats in the room didn’t seem to have a coordinated plan to respond. Some dressing in matching outfits while others held up signs on paddles.”

He then referenced Democratic Rep. Al Green, who was removed from the chamber after disrupting Trump’s remarks, and how ten Democrats voted to censure him after the outburst “despite similar protests during [Joe] Biden’s term triggering no such repercussions.” Oliver continued, “That move was in keeping with centrist democrats’ current insistence on bending over backwards to cater to conservatives.”

Oliver took aim at Republicans, too. In particular, he mocked House Speaker Mike Johnson for saying that he wanted to frame Trump’s speech in gilded gold, and threw some shade at J.D.Vance in the process. “This isn’t important, but gilding is a technique where you cover things that are not gold in a thin layer of gold to make them look gold,” Oliver began. “So you wouldn’t gild gold because gold is gold already. It’d be like J.D. Vance wearing a T-shirt that says ‘unbearable b**ch’ on it. It’s simply redundant.”

Additionally, Oliver referenced the Republican party’s leaders’ recent advisory for members of Congress to stop holding town halls due to the increase of anti-DOGE attendees. Addressing Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who complained about a “rude” audience at one of his town hall events, Oliver said, “Grow up! Your job is to listen to people complain and act on their concerns. If you’re not doing that, people don’t owe you politeness. You know who gets to complain about a rude audience? Patti LuPone when someone’s texting, and end of list. So shut the f**k up!”

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Elon Musk also took the brunt of some of Oliver’s jokes when the comedian said, “I think relying on God’s plan when Elon Musk is part of the equation is a little hard to swallow, especially since if Elon himself was following God’s plan, he’d clearly be bald by now.”

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Sundays, 11/10c, HBO