John Oliver lampoons Donald Trump over NFL comments

Over the weekend, Donald Trump made some very controversial remarks regarding NFL players who knelt during the national anthem.

Speaking in Alabama, the President said: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’”

Numerous celebrities have already criticised the comments, including Stevie Wonder, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Bill Maher, and Oakland baseball player Bruce Maxwell.

On Sunday evening, John Oliver added to the chorus of voices: “The president took time out — while it’s worth noting that over 3 million American citizens in Puerto Rico are without power — to call Colin Kaepernick a son of a bitch.”

Kneeling during the national anthem was popularised by Kaepernick, an American football player, back in 2016. The athlete’s protest was done in support of Black Lives Matter, which campaigns against systematic racism in America.

As Oliver pointed out, Kaepernick’s mother, Teresa, was one of the people to react to the news, writing on Twitter: “Guess that makes me a proud bitch!”

The Last Week Tonight host pointed out how the often controversial commentator Roger Goodell also condemned the remarks, Oliver joking: “When you have lost the moral high ground of Roger f**king Goodell, something is horribly wrong.”

Oliver also criticised Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro, a former district attorney, who told NFL players they should be ashamed of themselves for kneeling.

“She is right, no one wants to hear about politics from a wildly successful athlete,” Oliver said. “You only want to hear about it from an abject failure of a prosecutor who somehow let Robert Durst slip through her fingers. And by the way Jeanine, there’s a flag behind you. Have some f**king respect.” Watch below.

Following Trump’s words, many NFL players decided to kneel over the weekend, uniting against the backlash.