HBO comic John Oliver urged his audience not to vote for Michael Bloomberg over the former New York City mayor’s history with stop and frisk.
Oliver, who is the host of Last Week Tonight, condemned Bloomberg in a roughly seven-minute monologue on Sunday for keeping stop and frisk in place after succeeding Republican Rudy Giuliani. The Democratic presidential candidate has taken flak for the controversial policy, which critics say gives police officers legal protection to mistreat and abuse minorities.
“[Bloomberg’s] true legacy was the massive expansion of stop and frisk, a policy empowering police to stop, question, and search anyone they suspected of involvement in criminal activity,” Oliver said. “For some communities, in particular, it was a decade of constant harassment.”
“This policy was appalling, and fell disproportionately on black and Latino New Yorkers who were the target of over 80% of the stops at its peak — something for which Bloomberg was completely unrepentant,” Oliver said before showing a 2013 clip of Bloomberg defending the policing practice.
Bloomberg apologized for his past support of stop and frisk on Nov. 17, days before jumping into the Democratic primary.
Oliver warned his audience that Bloomberg’s deep pockets — the wealthy businessman has spent roughly $400 million of his money on advertising since announcing — would keep the ex-mayor in the presidential race for a relatively long time.
“Don’t even f—ing think about it,” Oliver told people considering supporting the billionaire for president.
