John Oliver Rips Into the Fox-Trump George Soros Conspiracy Theory

HBO comedian John Oliver lit into the conspiracy theories that emerged during the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings, concluding that the whole process “was borderline pathological.”

Oliver started by ripping into the George Soros conspiracy theory, which many view as an anti-Semitic dog-whistle, that started with Fox News and was quickly repeated by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Do you believe George Soros is behind all of this? Paying these [protesters] to get you and your colleagues in elevators—or wherever they can get in your face?” asked Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo who apparently sparked the conspiracy theory.

“I have heard so many people believe that,” replied Sen. Grassley, adding, “I tend to believe it. I believe it fits in his attack mode that he has, and how he uses his billions and billions of resources.” The claim was later repeated by Trump on Twitter.

“But you know that’s bullshit Grassley, don’t you?” Oliver said of the “paid protester” allegations. “George Soros isn’t paying people to yell at Jeff Flake in an elevator. It’s completely unnecessary. People will happily do that for free! In fact, people would pay to yell at Jeff Flake in an elevator. If Disney World had a ride called, Yell At Jeff Flake in an Elevator, the line would be longer than Space fucking Mountain!”

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Oliver went on to explain that of the over $9.5 million that was spent on TV ads during the confirmation battler, over $7 million was spent by special-interest groups in support of Kavanaugh.

“This entire process wasn’t about principle, it was just about getting what you want—no matter how you have to do it, or what damage it does,” Oliver concluded. “It was borderline pathological.”