John Oliver Tears Into Donald Trump’s Vow to Bring Back Coal Jobs

”Trump needs to stop lying to coal miners. We all do.”

John Oliver dedicated the latest installment of Last Week Tonight on Sunday to tackling one of President Donald Trump’s most egregious lies: the vow to revive the coal mining industry. 

“We’ll start winning, wining, and winning, and you are going to be very proud,” Trump said at one campaign rally in West Virginia. “And for those miners: get ready, because you are going to be working your asses off.”

But as most experts point out, a slew of factors such as increased automation and the rise of renewable energy stand in Trump’s way. Yet, his administration continues to cite bogus coal statistics to defend dangerous policy decisions, including abandoning the Paris climate treaty and rolling back the Obama EPA’s Clean Power Plan, all while cozying up to powerful mining CEO’s like Don Blankenship.

“The point here is: Trump needs to stop lying to coal miners,” Oliver said. “We all do.”

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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