John Oliver Mocks Senate GOP’s Impeachment Trial ‘Charade’: ‘Hands in Everyone! Dead Eyes, Empty Hearts, Ted Cruz!’
John Oliver returned from a lengthy hiatus on Sunday night, lambasting Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the Republican Party for treating Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial as “a complete charade.”
Oliver missed quite a bit of news while away — his last show aired in mid-November when the news was still focused on Trump’s refusal to concede and his allies’ shameless support of his baseless voter fraud claims.
“It’s been a weird time. But we have to start with the impeachment trial that took place this week,” Oliver began, adding, “Democrats put on a compelling forensic case about Trump’s clear role as instigator of the January 6th riots, and in response, his attorneys mounted a defense that could be charitably characterized as ‘incoherent.’”
The host later condemned Cruz, whose role in the impeachment trial was to essentially act as a juror, for meeting with Trump’s lawyers in the middle of the trial.
Oliver then cut to a video of Cruz explaining what he said to Trump’s lawyers in the middle of the trial: “I said, ‘Look, you’ve gotta remember you’ve already won.’ There are not 67 votes to convict. There are 55 votes to convict, plus-minus two.”
“DEAD EYES, EMPTY HEART, TED CRUZ” — @iamjohnoliver https://t.co/Fqd6RqET1s pic.twitter.com/dAsWS9FYl3
— Matt Wilstein (@mattwilstein) February 15, 2021
Oliver went after the senator for admitting that Republicans treated the impeachment trial as “a complete charade,” noting how disheartening it is to hear that come from a member of the “world’s most deliberative body.”
“I said to them, ‘You gotta remember, the outcome is predetermined, nothing means anything and this entire process is a complete charade,” Oliver said mimicking Cruz. “‘Now, hands in everyone: Dead eyes, empty hearts, Ted Cruz.'”
“The fact that Republicans were going to acquit the former president no matter what is a pretty depressing sign of just how deep Trumpism runs in their party,” he continued, adding that support for Trump is “even worse” at a state level, as legislators even participated in the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6.
The host used the remainder of his show to address the future viruses and outbreaks, revealing, “If we’re not very careful, the next pandemic could be even worse.”
“So for the good of future generations — and in all likelihood, us in a few years’ time — we really need to remember how we feel right now and invest accordingly,” Oliver said, suggesting that his viewers support those working to fight epidemics. “Because the truth is you never know where the next pandemic is going to come from.”
Watch above, via YouTube.
