John Oliver urges Donald Trump to 'drop out' of the presidential race
The host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight" apologized for having to speak about Trump again at the end of Sunday's episode, but felt he should ahead of the show's one-month break from airing.
"There are some things I need to say," the host explained, in light of Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's resignation, the revelation that Roger Ailes is acting as an adviser, and Trump's sagging poll numbers.
"This feels like a fork in the road for Trump," Oliver continued. "He's either hitting bottom, from which he'll rebound to victory, or it's the beginning of the end... Obviously, losing would be disastrous, because his entire brand is built around not doing that... And the problem is Trump wouldn't just be losing any election, he'd be losing it to Hillary Clinton. And that wouldn't just be off-brand, it would be brand-destroying. And he knows it."
It would be especially bad for Trump, Oliver pointed out, with a new Washington Post-ABC poll showing that 60% of registered voters doubt Hillary Clinton's trustworthiness.
"The other option is that Trump resets, comes from behind, and wins," Oliver said. "And I would argue that's even worse for him, because then he actually has to run the country. And that means living in government housing, conversing with fully clothed women, and traveling in a plane that doesn't even have his name on it."
Oliver then turned to his idea for Trump as a third option, which he thinks would work best for the real-estate mogul.
"I would like to propose to you a third option," he said. "That is, drop out. Simply drop out, and tell America this entire candidacy was a stunt. A satire designed to expose the flaws in the system."
Watch Oliver argue for Trump to drop out below: