HBO’s John Oliver began Last Week Tonight on Sunday by recapping Vice President Kamala Harris’s entry into the presidential race by accusing Republicans of resorting to outright racism” and falsely accusing her of being a radical left-winger.

Like many in the non-comedy media, Oliver thought it was racist to point out that, by Joe Biden’s own words, Harris was selected as VP in the name of diversity, “Republicans spent the week trying to counter the newfound enthusiasm around Harris, with criticism frequently defaulting to outright racism. She was called, among other things, a diversity, or ‘DEI hire.”

Oliver also maintained that Republicans have no good substantive criticisms of Harris, “when they weren't stooping that low, they were reaching for desperate attacks like these.”

That led him to introduce a trio of Fox News clips. The first two saw Steve Doocy and Sean Hannity condemning Harris for wanting to ban plastic straws while the third featured Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Hannity declaring that “Kamala can't have my guns, she can't have my gasoline engine, and she sure as hell can't have my steaks and cheeseburgers. She is a radical California leftist.”

Not only is Oliver wrong that plastic straws and Harris’s red meat comments are the only criticisms Republicans have of Harris, he’s not even being original in his attempted humor. Stephen Colbert shared the Doocy and Hannity clips verbatim on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, after the Cruz clip, Oliver claimed, “That's almost a parody of right-wing fearmongering nonsense. ‘She'll take your straws, she'll take your burgers, and brother, if you like eating your burgers through a straw, say goodbye to your whole life.’”

Oliver also insisted that Harris can’t be a radical, “For the record: Harris is not a 'radical California leftist.' She was a prosecutor. If Dick Wolf thinks your job is heroic and noble, chances are you're not leading the revolution. And even if she were, that doesn't translate to ‘Stealing people's cheeseburgers.’ That's the Hamburglar, Ted. You're thinking of the Hamburglar.”

Harris’s comments about red meat highlight a certain form of nanny statism that is not nearly as weird as Oliver thinks it is, but even if it was, Harris constantly ranked among the Senate’s top liberals, simply being a prosecutor does not make her some sort of moderate.

Here is a transcript for the July 28 show:

HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

7/28/2024

11:19 PM ET

JOHN OLIVER: Republicans spent the week trying to counter the newfound enthusiasm around Harris, with criticism frequently defaulting to outright racism. She was called, among other things, a diversity, or "DEI hire," and when they weren't stooping that low, they were reaching for desperate attacks like these.

STEVE DOOCY: You know, a major liability for Kamala Harris, she wants to ban plastic straws.

SEAN HANNITY: She wants to ban my plastic straws? I love my plastic straw, I hate those paper ones.

TED CRUZ: Kamala can't have my guns, she can't have my gasoline engine, and she sure as hell can't have my steaks and cheeseburgers. She is a radical California leftist.

OLIVER: That's almost a parody of right-wing fearmongering nonsense. "She'll take your straws, she'll take your burgers, and brother, if you like eating your burgers through a straw, say goodbye to your whole life." 

For the record: Harris is not a "radical California leftist." She was a prosecutor. If Dick Wolf thinks your job is heroic and noble, chances are you're not leading the revolution. And even if she were, that doesn't translate to "Stealing people's cheeseburgers." That's the Hamburglar, Ted. You're thinking of the Hamburglar.