Here’s What Happens When John Oliver Tries to Take Donald Trump’s Biggest Campaign Promise Seriously


John Oliver continued his campaign to #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain this week with a takedown of the Republican front-runner’s repeated calls to build a massive wall at the US-Mexico border—a plan Trump first introduced last June with the inflammatory statement that Mexicans were crime-peddling “rapists.”

“The border wall is one of the few policy proposals Trump has talked about in details, so instead of mocking or dismissing it out of hand, let’s take a serious proposal by a serious presidential candidate seriously,” Oliver said.

The Last Week Tonight host went on to expose the major problems with the real estate magnate’s signature immigration policy (other than the sheer xenophobia embedded in the plan), explaining to viewers that such a wall would likely cost $26 billion—far more than the $4 billion Trump tells his supporters it would take.

“It’s a big dumb thing that only gets more expensive over time,” Oliver said. “It’s like getting a pet walrus: You think it’s stupid now—wait until you learn what a bucket of sea cucumbers costs. You’re not prepared for that.”

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