John Oliver kicked off Sunday’s Last Week Tonight by mocking President Trump for his justification of avoiding the use of the word “war” amid the United States’ military operation in Iran.
“The Iran war entered its second month, though Trump tries not to use the word ‘war’ for reasons he probably shouldn’t be saying out loud,” Oliver said, setting up a clip of Trump explaining why he isn’t using the term.
“I won’t use the word ‘war’ because they say if you use the word war, that’s maybe not a good thing to do,” Trump said. “They don’t like the word war because you’re supposed to get approval, so I’ll use the word ‘military operation,’ which is really what it is.”
Responded Oliver: “What? He really just talks like a 6-year-old speaking stream-of-consciousness to a stranger: ‘And my mum says I’m not allowed to talk about my penis with other people, even though everybody has one, well, not her and not my sister, but my dad and I both have penises, but I can’t say that when there are too many people around, even though everyone knows ’cause they have their own penises unless they don’t, but I do.’”
Oliver then said that no matter what word is used to describe the conflict, “it has been chaos.” He recapped recent developments, including Trump threatening to attack Iran’s power grid if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, posting on social media that he’d be “starting with the biggest” power plant first. That “would be a war crime if this was a war, but luckily we now know it isn’t,” Oliver observed.
Oliver continued that Trump then said those strikes would be delayed after fruitful conversations with Iran, which the latter denied have even taken place. Trump then extended the deadline to April 6, though Iran has been bombing U.S. bases and allies. He noted that 2,000 Iranians and 13 U.S. service members have been killed so far, while Trump is reportedly mulling sending another 10,000 troops to the region.
“It sure feels like we’re in an unnecessary war with no endgame, though the president’s supporters will insist that if you just look at things in the right way, it all makes sense,” he said, showing a clip of Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican, giving his take.
“Here’s why we went into Iran: We had no choice,” Kennedy said. “The president didn’t start a war. He … was trying to stop a war.”
Said Oliver: “Oh, I get it. Sometimes you have to start a war to stop a war. The same way you have to ‘spend money to make money’ or ‘fake it ’til you make it’ — you know, any of those things that people say when they’re in way over their heads.”
