Comedian John Oliver said the Confederate flag is a convenient way to identify “the worst people in the world,” on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight.”
“The Confederate flag is one of those symbols that should really only be seen on t-shirts, belt buckles and bumper stickers to help the rest of us identify the worst people in the world,” he said to cheers.
His commentary came in response to the Charleston shooting after which the Confederate flag remained at full-staff as part of a memorial, even though both the American and state flags were being flown at half-staff in front of South Carolina’s state capital.
“Perhaps the bigger question is why it was flying at any staff at all?” Oliver said.
He then answered his own question by acknowledging that the Confederate flag actually cannot be raised or lowered as it is fixed to the flag pole of the memorial. In order to move the flag, South Carolina’s legislative chambers would have to have a two-thirds majority vote. He then alluded to the Dred Scott decision joking that legislators had decided against making it a three-fifths majority because “even they thought that might be a bit on the nose,” Oliver said.
