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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Ellie Harrison

John Oliver mocks Trump for claiming he is ‘the least racist person in the room’

Photograph: Rex

John Oliver delivered a take-down of Donald Trump on Sunday evening’s episode of Last Week Tonight (25 October), calling the president’s behaviour “absolutely appalling”.

Trump and Joe Biden went head to head in a presidential debate on Thursday (22 October), during which the president declared he was the “least racist person in the room”.

“That is strange for multiple reasons," Oliver said, including the fact that “that room contained his family. So he’s effectively throwing them under the bus.”

Oliver also noted that the media response to this debate was that Trump was on his best behaviour, with one newscaster even noting that “no one set themselves on fire”.

“What is really sad here,” said Oliver, “is that when people claim Trump was on his best behaviour, that’s actually true. But his best behaviour is still absolutely appalling because even when the bar is so low as to be virtually non-existent… the unshakable fact is unless you set the bar at ‘nobody caught fire’, Trump will always find a way to disappoint.”

The final presidential debate, which took place ahead of the US election on 3 November, provoked a strong reaction from celebrities on Twitter, with Mark Ruffalo, John Legend and Debra Messing among the stars to share their thoughts. 

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