As Mexico prepares to hold its biggest election ever on July 1, John Oliver, the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, explained in the latest episode of the show how the country might be on the verge of electing its own version of Donald Trump.
In true Oliver style, the talk show host first ribbed Americans for not caring about the elections in the episode that aired on June 24. He then went on to explain the significance of the elections and how Mexicans could “replace their president, their entire Congress and huge chunks of their state and local governments”.
Oliver quickly moved on, however, to the main point of discussion – the frontrunner of the presidential election, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who goes by his initials, AMLO. He described how AMLO refused to accept defeat when he previously contested, and lost, in 2006 and 2012 and instead held an alternative inauguration ceremony in Mexico City where he declared himself the legitimate president of the country.
The leftist leader, who appeals to the country’s growing anger with corruption and crime, might make one think of “Bernie Sanders with a better haircut and significantly better Spanish,” Oliver said. However, the presidential candidate is also notoriously difficult to pin down on issues, drawing comparisons to Donald Trump instead. The irony of a Mexican Donald Trump was not lost on the talk show host, who said the concept sounded like a “jacked Gandhi” or “Orthodox Hitler”.
This latest episode comes after HBO’s website was blocked in China on Saturday, after the British comedian parodied president Xi Jinping and his policies.
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