In a heartfelt monologue just days before the election, John Oliver delivered an emotional plea to undecided and hesitant voters, urging them to vote for Kamala Harris.
Choking back tears, Oliver expressed his deep concern about the future and shared the personal stakes he feels heading into Election Day. “What am I going to be feeling on Wednesday? Is there anything I’m going to wish I’d said now?” he asked, opening a passionate 10-minute segment on Last Week Tonight.
Oliver voiced his support for Harris’ proposals to expand Medicare, protect reproductive freedoms, and increase support for low-income Americans. He pointed to past episodes in this season of his HBO show, which had sounded alarms about the potential consequences of a second Trump term and Project 2025’s policy plans. “That’s why so many of our stories this year have ended with me saying to vote against Donald Trump. But, to be clear, I’m voting for Kamala Harris. And I think you should, too.”
Acknowledging the frustration among voters critical of the Biden administration’s response to the Gaza conflict, Oliver directly addressed those feeling disillusioned. He recognized the anger toward recent actions and admitted, “I wish Harris had done more to reach out to you instead of sending Bill Clinton, which felt unhelpful and almost like bullying.” Yet, he encouraged voters to consider the voices of Muslim and Arab leaders, like Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian-American who had decided to support Harris despite her reservations. Playing Romman’s TikTok where she explained her decision, Oliver suggested, “It’s honestly worth watching the whole thing.”
Oliver noted that Romman, voting early for Harris in Georgia, agreed to match her vote with a protest vote in a safely Democratic state—a compromise that Oliver believed was better than allowing Trump to return to office. “I know it’s hard to imagine things getting worse, but Trump has always had a way of making it so,” he said, underscoring the potential damage of a second term, including replacing Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito, which could lock in a conservative majority for decades.
In an unfiltered moment, Oliver acknowledged the realities of political compromise, saying, “Politics isn’t always inspiring; it’s transactional. It rarely matches our greatest hopes. I’ll admit, I didn’t want my first vote as a new American citizen to be for Joe f—ing Biden. But here we are.” He continued, framing the struggle for justice as an ongoing process that goes beyond Election Day, involving protests, legislative action, and countless small steps forward.
Finally, Oliver appealed to voters with the promise of a future where Trump is no longer a political threat. “Doesn’t it sound great to live in a world where he’s just an annoyance?” he asked, urging viewers to do everything possible in the next 48 hours to help create that world.
“I want so badly to live in that world,” Oliver concluded, hopeful that voters would come together to make it possible.