John Oliver skewers Trump’s coronavirus comments: ‘He’s a president whose entire life has been a series of low-stakes lies’

The comedian made fun of the US President’s misleading reaction to the coronavirus outbreak

John Oliver has skewered Donald Trump’s recent coronavirus comments, saying: “This is a bad time to have a president who cannot speak clearly.”

Speaking on his late night comedy series Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the British-American comic highlighted some of the US President’s misleading comments about the global virus outbreak.

“The White House messaging has been all over the place,” Oliver said, mentioning that one of Trump’s advisors had used the phrase “pretty close to airtight” with regards to containing the virus.

“’Airtight’ vs ‘close to airtight’ is a pretty crucial distinction,” he joked. ”It’s the difference between having a working submarine and a cool metal tube to die in.”

Oliver points to a clip of Trump in which he appears to insinuate that the virus is on the decline, when the numbers are in fact rising.

“This is the problem with a President whose entire life has been a series of low-stakes lies”, he said.

“A man who has lied about — among other things — his net worth, his Apprentice ratings, the number of floors in Trump Tower, the size of his electoral college victory, the attendance at his rallies, whether it rained at his inauguration and whether or not he was invited to this very boring, low-rated show — which he wasn’t! It was a lie!”

The coronavirus has continued to grow as a global threat, with the number of confirmed cases rising in the UK and abroad.