Comedian and commentator John Oliver’s HBO show has filed a trademark application for the term “Drumpf,” an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s alleged ancestral last name.
Oliver, who hosts HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” show, on Sunday launched a 22-minute diatribe against Trump, which has racked up 56 million views on Facebook since airing Sunday.
During that monologue, Oliver said the show had already applied for the trademark to “Drumpf,” and records show that a company called “Drumpf Industries” submitted the application Feb. 26 and said it would be used for “provision of a website featuring multimedia content.”
HBO spokesman Tobe Becker Thursday morning told the Washington Examiner that Oliver’s show submitted the application.
The Oliver monologue clearly aimed to eviscerate Trump, casting him has the leader of a “sh—y lifestyle brand” instead of a successful real estate tycoon.
The segment highlighted reports that Drumpf is Trump’s real ancestral surname and launched a campaign on Twitter to #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain, urging viewers to join the cause by only referring to Trump by that name.
“…[The] very name Trump is the cornerstone of his brand,” Oliver said Sunday, urging people to use Drumpf instead of Trump in order to “uncouple that magical word from the man he really is.”
By Monday, the day after the Academy Awards and the day before Trump’s SuperTuesday wins in seven states, “Donald Drumpf” was the top trending topic on Google.
