John Oliver Calls Out ‘Wealthy White Woman’ Meghan McCain for ‘Giving Space for Hate to Grow’
John Oliver opened Sunday’s Last Week Tonight by addressing the shootings in Atlanta last Tuesday, which killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women — specifically calling out Meghan McCain’s reaction to the attack.
Although law enforcement officials are still investigating the motive, last week’s shootings occurred amid a recent rise of anti-Asian hate crimes and attacks, which many attribute to the use of anti-Asian rhetoric and slurs at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our long, ugly history of anti-Asian racism and the fact that it often peaks during times of crisis is the exact reason why, just last year, many were loudly warning that [Donald] Trump calling Covid names like the ‘China virus’ was likely to lead to a rise in violence against people of Asian descent,” Oliver said. “An argument that not everyone, at the time, seemed to find convincing.”
The host then played a clip from a March 2020 episode of The View, during which the hosts, and Mediate founder Dan Abrams, discussed Trump’s use of the term “Chinese Virus.”
“I think if the left wants to focus on P.C. labeling this virus, it is a great way to get Trump re-elected,” McCain said during the episode. “I don’t have a problem with people calling it whatever they want. It’s a deadly virus that did originate in Wuhan.”
“Oh good, Meghan McCain doesn’t have a problem with it!” Oliver exclaimed. “Listen not to the scores of Asian Americans telling everyone that the term is dangerous and offensive. Instead, gather around and take the word of a wealthy white woman who’s dressed like she’s about to lay off 47 people over Zoom.”
The host pointed to McCain’s recent “Stop Asian Hate” post on Twitter, which was accompanied by three broken heart emojis, noting that while the sentiment is there, her past remarks disparage the message.
“Now, I will say, Meghan McCain posted this week, ‘Stop Asian Hate,’ with three broken hearts emoji, which is a fine sentiment to throw up on Twitter after the fact,” he added. “But there has to be an understanding that saying, ‘I don’t have a problem with calling it the China virus’ is very much giving space for hate to grow.”
Watch above, via YouTube.
