Think Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are a moderate influence in the Trump White House? John Oliver of “Last Week Tonight” encourages the country to “think again” in a scathing 22-minute rant on Sunday night’s episode.
With Ivanka serving as the assistant to the president and Jared with his hand in practically everything (having been tasked to restoring peace in the Middle East, reforming the entire federal government and much more), Oliver asks two questions of the audience: Does Ivanka really serve as a moderate influence, and does Jared really have the experience to warrant such an impressive portfolio of responsibilities in the White House?
First off, he asserts that Ivanka has an ability to “apparently say nothing and yet consistently support her dad.” In addition, the assumption that she disagrees with him isn’t really based on anything as she’s never specific about what those issues are.
Oliver adds that it’s hard to see her “influence” on her dad when Trump allowed states to defund Planned Parenthood and put climate change denier Scott Pruitt in charge of the EPA — two causes it’s assumed Ivanka is passionate about.
It is clear her dad has an influence on her, as Oliver catches Ivanka in a lie on a TV interview where she claims that Hillary Clinton had no plan for paid family and medical leave and early childhood education on her website when she actually did. Oliver jokes, “The apple does not fall far from the orange.”
He also points out in her 2009 book that she writes: “Perception is more important than reality … don’t correct a falsehood if it plays to your advantage.”
Oliver closes this argument by stating, “It is possible that she is doing nothing to moderate her father.”
Now on to Jared Kushner.
He routinely gets commended by political commentators for being being a great listener (not a big talker) and for this reason, he is considered “smart.”
Oliver notes that for someone with so much power, it is odd that we rarely hear Jared speak. It is so rare, that we can’t say for sure what he sounds like and Oliver cuts to a clip of Gilbert Godfrey voicing Kushner.
Since he has little experience, his Harvard education is routinely cited as evidence of his intelligence, but according to Oliver, the Unabomber and Ted Cruz also went to Harvard, so it doesn’t say much.
It also turns out his dad donated $2.5 million to the school shortly before he was admitted.
Oliver reveals that Jared took over his family’s business after his dad went to jail for something involving “blackmailing his brother-in-law, a sex worker, and a hidden alarm clock and a camera in a sh— box motel on Route 22 called The Red Bull.”
On that note, there’s much more to this hilarious yet on-point commentary so you’ll have to watch the rest yourself for the full effect.
