It's been a rough couple of weeks for "Last Week Tonight," the weekly Sunday night comedy/news show hosted by John Oliver.
The show traditionally tapes on Friday nights, but two weeks ago chose to tape on Saturday (July 20th) in case anything big broke on Friday night.
Instead, the big news broke Sunday morning, July 21st, with President Joe Biden's bombshell announcement. That night's show ran with the disclaimer that it had been taped on July 20th. During one prescient moment, Oliver even quips "Who even knows who'll be the Democratic nominee by the time this airs," taped barely 18 hours before it happened.
It happened again this Sunday night as Oliver presented a deep dive into the broken brainworms of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. While Oliver absolutely savages Kennedy--from his lies about vaccines to his penchant for working out shirtless in jeans--the show was taped before the bizarre bear story broke late on Sunday.
It's a shame of a missed opportunity, if only for the moment when Oliver compares Kennedy to Smokey the Bear after showing a clip from a campaign ad where Kennedy brags about how often he works out. In jeans.
“Cool,” Oliver deadpans, after a heavy pause. “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.”
But the rest of the piece crushes Kennedy thanks to the writing staff and researchers at Last Week Tonight.
Oliver also spent some time being serious, debunking Kennedy's lies about vaccinations and everything else. Here's hoping he also gets a crack at the bear story next week.