John Oliver calls out Marjorie Taylor Greene for 'obvious dog whistle bigotry' in monkeypox comments
Covering the rapidly spreading monkeypox virus, on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Sunday, Oliver called out Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for comments she’s recently made about the disease, which to this point has been most prevalent in the LGBTQ community.
“Of course monkeypox is a threat to some people in our population, but we know what causes it, and that’s pretty much, um — it’s basically a sexually transmitted disease, so it’s not a threat to most of the population,” Greene said. “And so it’s not a global pandemic. It’s really not. And people just have to laugh at it, mock it and reject it. So I think it’s another scam.”
“Okay, obviously that is ridiculous,” Oliver said in response. “If the way to get rid of something awful was for people to laugh at it and mock it, that woman clearly wouldn’t be in Congress, and yet, here we all are.”
Oliver also went after Greene for her insistence that monkeypox is strictly an LGBTQ issue, including a tweet she posted the he sees as a homophobic dog whistle for conservatives.
“Greene also tweeted, ‘If monkeypox is a sexually transmitted disease, why are kids getting it?’ in an act of obvious dog whistle bigotry, suggesting gay people are a danger to children,” Oliver said, “when what’s clearly an actual danger to children is the QAnon congresswoman who once tweeted, ‘The kids at Uvalde needed JR-15s.’”
Video Transcript
JOHN OLIVER: OK. Obviously, that is ridiculous. If the way to get rid of something awful was for people to laugh at it and mock it, that woman clearly wouldn't be in Congress. And yet, here we all are.
- On "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" Sunday, Oliver called out Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for comments she made about monkeypox, which is rapidly spreading across the country, especially among the LGBTQ community.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: It's basically a sexually transmitted disease. So it's not a threat to most of the population. And so it's not a global pandemic. It's really not. And people just have to have to laugh at it, mock it, and reject it. So I think it's another scam.
- Oliver also slammed Greene for her insistence that monkeypox is strictly an LGBTQ problem, including a tweet that he believes was a dog whistle for conservatives.
JOHN OLIVER: Greene also tweeted, "If monkeypox is a sexually transmitted disease, why are kids getting it," in an act of obvious dog-whistle bigotry, suggesting gay people are a danger to children, when what's clearly an actual danger to children is the QAnon Congresswoman who once tweeted, "the kids at Uvalde needed JR-15s."
