John Oliver on the future of the supreme court: 'extremely grim'

The Last Week Tonight host discussed the retirement of Anthony Kennedy and the implications that a Trump pick will have on the US

John Oliver has discussed the future of the supreme court, calling the implications for America “extremely grim”.

During his HBO show Last Week Tonight, the comic spoke about the retirement of Anthony Kennedy which allows Trump to make a pick that would allow the Republicans to have a lasting effect on the law.

“For anyone who believes that the constitution protects things like reproductive and LGBT rights, this is bad,” he said.

After the news, Mike Pence tweeted that he trusts Trump to pick a replacement that would echo the work done by ultra-conservative Antonin Scalia.

“You don’t generally stand up at someone’s retirement party and say ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done for this company Robert and rest assured, we will replace you with someone exactly like that other guy who used to work here that we all liked much more than you,’” Oliver joked.

He went on to suggest a game that he predicts will soon take place: Hope Susan Collins Flips and be Disappointed When She Doesn’t. “It’s America’s most depressing game show,” he said.

Oliver continued: “The consequences here will almost certainly be extremely grim.”

He did then hint at some possibly good news. “I’m happy to say here that there is actually some good news because it turns out there’s a constitutional loophole that allows Democrats to … I’m obviously lying here, there is no good news, everything is terrible now,” he said.

Ultimately, he ended with some advice for anyone worried about the news. “The only thing anyone can really do now is vote and there are two key elections that you should try and vote in: one in 2016 and one in 2014 because that is what got us into this mess,” he said.

Guardian staff

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