'Petty autocrat and a bully': John Oliver on 'Last Week Tonight' looks at Gov. DeSantis

Cheryl McCloud, Palm Beach Post
·6 min read
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Late-night talk show host John Oliver took on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during an episode of "Last Week Tonight."

Shown on HBO, the show reviews what has happened in "news, politics and current events, all with a heavy dose of satire."

During the show, Oliver poked fun at everything from DeSantis' new book and his war on wokeism to his policies and pronunciation of Thai.

Posted on YouTube, the show has gotten more than 900,000 views as of Monday morning.

Here are some of the highlights of what Oliver had to say about "business Fred Flintstone":

DeSantis: 'We the people are not destined for failure'

Oliver's highlighted three stories about Florida residents as a counterpoint to DeSantis' comments:

"We the people may not be destined for failure, but a lot of individuals down there sure do seem drawn to it," Oliver said, poking fun at Floridians.

Coordinated rollout for DeSantis presidential campaign?

While DeSantis hasn't officially declared his candidacy, Oliver said the governor is the favorite among many conservatives.

After his landslide election as governor in November, a New York Post headline called DeSantis "DeFuture," something Oliver said was "depressing."

Oliver had more explicit things to say about Kari Lake's comments at a Turning Point Action Rally with DeSantis where she said the governor has "got BDE" and urged people who didn't know what it means to ask their kids later.

What's in their pants?Kari Lake sizes up Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis ... by what's in their pants?

Oliver pulled no punches in explaining BDE does not mean "Big DeSantis Energy," but is associated with, um, energy below the waistband.

Trump continues to work on nickname for DeSantis

What will Trump's final nickname for DeSantis be? Hopefully something more than the embarrassingly weak first attempt "Ron DeSantimonious," Oliver said.

Trump just needs a mean nickname: Ron DeSantis stands no chance against a political barbarian like Donald Trump

"Meatball Ron" has a lot more punch.

"I hate to say it, but Trump's still got it. (Meatball Ron) is perfectly stupid, childish and hurtful in a way that's genuinely difficult to articulate. Also, it's a pretty good name on its own."

DeSantis remains a strong contender for the Republican nomination

Why do commentators continue to throw Trump up against DeSantis, describing the governor as Trump "with brains and without drama," Oliver asked.

That just isn't meaningful.

"That's like saying that new restaurant is better than this chicken pot pie that fell on the sidewalk. Sure, it is, but you're really not giving me much useful information."

What has DeSantis done to and for the 20 million people in Florida?

Oliver cited accounts that said DeSantis would walk out on a date if his intentional pronunciation of Thai as "thigh" was corrected. He supposedly also walked around with earbuds in after he was elected to Congress to keep people away.

"If you're picking up on a theme of Ron DeSantis doesn't like hearing anyone's voice but his own, you're on to something," Oliver said. "Since becoming Florida's governor, he has made shutting down dissenting voices something of a feature.

"DeSantis is constantly complaining that the media is taking him out of context," Oliver said. There is one notable exception: Fox News.

The network asked DeSantis to appear on its airwaves 113 times, or nearly once a day, Oliver said.

"That's just pathetic," Oliver said. "If Fox News ever went on a date with Ron DeSantis, they definitely wouldn't correct him when he called it thigh food."

DeSantis proclaims Florida resident the 'rightful winner' of an NCAA championship

Emma Weyant of Sarasota came in second during an NCAA 500-meter women's freestyle championship event behind Lia Thomas, a transgender opponent. DeSantis issued a proclamation declaring Weyant to be the “rightful winner” of the race.

"Emma is the best female swimmer in the 500-meter freestyle because she earned that," DeSantis said.

"DeSantis doesn't have the power to declare or disqualify winners in college sports," Oliver said, calling the proclamation "completely pointless."

"But since men in suits seem to be using their platforms to invalidate past athletic achievements out of pure spite, I hearby declare that by signing this, Ron DeSantis' Little League team, the swimming meatballs, did not in fact ever make the Little League world series.

"Instead, his team's place will be taken by the season 6 cast of RuPaul's Drag Race. I declare it; it is done."

DeSantis sells himself as a man with a proven track record

DeSantis has done some "terrible stuff," Oliver said, mentioning:

  • Florida banning transgender health care for treatment of minors

  • Signing Florida 15-week abortion ban into law

While other Republican governors have done similar things, what makes DeSantis extra popular on the right is his willingness to wage big, symbolic culture wars.

1-2 punch for transgender Floridians:Transgender Floridians scrambling as Medicaid coverage ban on gender-affirming care begins

Planned Parenthood challenge:Florida's new 15-week abortion ban challenged as violation of state privacy rights

"Wokeism is a form of cultural Marxism," DeSantis said in 2021 in Volusia County. "Florida is where woke goes to die."

Florida is where "wealthy, upper East Side New Yorkers go to die," Oliver quipped.

"It begins to feel like the freest state in America is only free to the extent that anyone wants to behave exactly the way that Ron DeSantis thinks they should," Oliver said.

What does it mean to be 'woke'?And why does Florida Governor Ron DeSantis want to stop it?

"In the months to come, you are going to hear a lot of DeSantis vs Trump comparisons, and the truth is, he'll probably come out well in a lot of them. ... it is important to consider DeSantis in his own right. If Donald Trump never existed, and let's just pause and enjoy that hypothetical for a second, and we were forced to learn about Ron DeSantis from scratch with no basis for comparison, what you would see would justifiably horrify you.

"You would be discovering a petty autocrat and a bully, a man with no interest in hearing dissent, questions, or indeed, the correct pronunciation of Thai food. And all in all, a man who is, and I do not use this term lightly, just a f***ing meatball."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ron DeSantis' policies targeted by John Oliver on Last Week Tonight