During his show “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday, John Oliver couldn't help but laugh at a Fox News reporter's question to a student protestor earlier that week, regarding it as the silliest question ever.
The HBO host highlighted the student protests at various college campuses, specifically at UCLA and Columbia in New York, beginning the show with a clip from Fox News reporting live at Columbia.
In the footage, the reporter asked a student protestor their thoughts on the escalation of events, and then inquired about their response if police decided to arrest them. When the student lightly responded that they couldn't do much, the Fox News reporter continued to ask, “Will you go with the police if they make an arrest?”
The student simply and bluntly replied, “If they start arresting? Guess so.”
After this exchange, Oliver could barely contain his laughter but managed to do so, and commended the student for handling the situation calmly with the Fox News reporter.
Oliver then mockingly praised the student for providing the calmest possible response to what he described as the stupidest question ever posed on TV. He then summarized the question as, “‘If the guys with guns put you in handcuffs and drag you to the jail, will you go with them?’ ‘Uh, yeah, I guess so.'”
The student, in conversation with the reporter, expressed that things were “f—ing crazy” without censorship, prompting Oliver to extend his sympathies to some Fox viewers.
Oliver jokingly offered condolences to the family of a Fox viewer who couldn't handle the student's language, remarking, “Somewhere, a family is writing pee-paw’s obituary: ‘Paul John Roberts passed away in his home when his eyeballs, heart and butthole exploded at the same time. He is survived by his wife and three adult children who no longer speak to him.'”
Catch “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” every Sunday at 11 p.m. ET on HBO.
