John Oliver Explains Why Tuesday’s Elections—Not Trump or 2016—Demand Your Immediate Attention


Update, November 4, 2015: Kentucky voters elected Republican businessman Matt Bevin to office on Tuesday, potentially jeopardizing Medicaid expansion for roughly half a million people in the state. As John Oliver explained just a few days earlier, this is why all elections—local, gubernatorial, and presidential—matter. More on that below:

As he bluntly told Stephen Colbert a few weeks ago, John Oliver truly couldn’t “give less of a shit” about Donald Trump or the 2016 election.

Yet, as the Last Week Tonight host lamented on Sunday, the national conversation remains fixated on presidential candidates, largely ignoring several key races that could ultimately determine the expansion of Medicaid and Obamacare in their states. It’s an issue, according to Oliver, all Americans should pay close attention to, even if you don’t live in one of these three states.

“There are American lives at stake here, because a number of these elections could determine whether hundreds of thousands of people remain in or even fall into what’s known as the Medicaid gap,” Oliver said.

“I know that sounds like a terrible clothing chain where you can buy khaki hospital gowns sewn by children in India, but amazingly, it’s even worse than that.”

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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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