We got a slight reprieve from 24/7 coronavirus coverage on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, where, instead of recapping how Trump continues to have stage envy over the virus, John Oliver dove into the president’s media outlet “love affair” of choice: OAN, or One America News. OAN, the “home for extreme conservatism” that employs reporters who may remind you of Ron Burgundy and his Channel 4 news team, has been the rotten apple of Trump’s dilated eyes for some time now, with the president making its reporters’ “flagrantly smitten” questions a staple during his press briefings.
“It’s Fox News with even less shame and even fewer scruples,” Oliver explained, calling the outlet “pathetically thirsty” for how much it adoringly writes and tweets about Trump. “They shift from fawning praise to sullen fury if people stop complimenting them for a single second. Although when you put it like that you kind of see what OAN and the president see in each other.” Oliver advises not to write off this “stupid, little-watched, borderline self-parody” of a media outlet, though. “Toxic things that start small can get big fast,” he reminds us, “and it’s dangerous to ignore them.” Confirmed.
