John Oliver Mocks Sen. Ed Markey’s Singing on Last Week Tonight
Photo via Sen. Ed Markey on facebook
The issue of congressional fundraising was front and center on the latest episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
The comedian gave a thorough breakdown of the absurd systems both parties have in place that basically force the members of Congress to spend hours on the phone asking for money from donors. Oliver notes that many of these politicians aren’t fans of the fundraising aspect of their jobs, but do it out of fear of losing their seats.
In a video clip of Senator Dick Durbin, the Democrat from Illinois calls the process an embarrassment, although Oliver points out that Congress has a pretty big “capacity for embarrassment.”
The host went on to show a montage of various politicians doing ridiculous stunts while on the job. Highlights include Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz reading Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham, Chair of the DNC Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s awkward rhymes in support of the Gators, and U.S. Representative for California and Framingham native Adam Schiff’s sad rendition of the New York Mets theme song.
The top moment, however, had to be the clip of Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey as he sang about chemical security to the tune of Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World.”
“Oh my god,” Oliver said after showing the video. “What is most shocking about that last clip is that he read the room and decided, ‘You know what? I think they want to hear another verse.'”
Check out the full segment below.
