John Oliver Slams Trump and Tucker Carlson Over Suspected Wisconsin Shooter

Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver took aim at conservative personalities on Sunday, including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and the McCloskeys – a couple who waved guns at peaceful protesters and then spoke at the Republican National Convention.

Oliver slammed them and President Donald Trump for rhetoric that may have inspired Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old suspected of double murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Oliver began by excoriating the McCloskeys for their speech claiming Democrats want to destroy the suburbs.

“Think about how incendiary that message is: Violence and criminals are coming to your community in the form of low-quality apartments, and you must defend yourself. Take it from us, the couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters,” Oliver said.

“And rhetoric like that, and the worldview it encompasses, has consequences.”

Oliver then moved on to Rittenhouse, linking the type of rhetoric the McCloskeys engaged in to his actions.

“I don’t know if he saw the McCloskeys speak the night before he drove to a city he didn’t live in to defend property he didn’t own,” Oliver said.

“What I do know is he was an avid Trump supporter, even sitting front row at a rally back in January, and Trump and his media ecosystem have been delivering essentially the same message as the McCloskeys for years now. Just look at how quickly Tucker Carlson moved to try and explain away Rittenhouse’s actions as a natural response,” he said.

The HBO host then turned his attention to Tucker Carlson for appearing to defend Rittenhouse’s actions.

“Well, you don’t seem to be shocked—and that alone should be pretty fucking shocking,” Oliver said of the Fox News personality.

“Because let’s be clear. A 17-year-old vigilante with a rifle cannot maintain order, because a 17-year-old vigilante with a rifle trying to maintain order is himself the definition of disorder—except, of course, if you’re a regular viewer of Tucker Carlson, a show that exists to teach its viewers precisely three things: Property damage is violence, homicide is order, and pillows are for sale.”

Watch the video above, via HBO/YouTube.