WATCH: John Oliver Totally Dismantles Donald Trump's 'Stupid F*cking' Wall
March 21, 2016Election '16
Donald Trump has made his proposal for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border a fixture in his campaign, so much so that one man even wore a Spandex wall costume to one of his rallies.
“The only people more excited about barriers are high school health teachers,” said John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight on Sunday. “The border wall is one of few Trump proposals he has talked about in detail, so instead of dismissing it out of hand, let’s take a serious proposal by a serious presidential candidate seriously.”
Here are Oliver's 10 reasons that the wall proposal is totally ridiculous (racism is only one of them):
1. The cost keeps fluctuating.
Trump initially said the wall would cost $4 billion. “Since then, his estimate has grown,” Oliver reminded us. “We’ve gone from $4-$12 billion. Donald Trump’s margin of error is the entire GDP of Moldova and doesn’t even factor in maintenance, labor and design. The congressional budget office estimates that wall maintenance costs will exceed initial construction within seven years."
2. Mexico won’t pay for it, like Trump says they will.
“People love it when you make them pay for shit they don’t want,” Oliver joked. “That’s why everyone is so happy when the cable company bundles together cable, Internet and landline.” Current president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, and former presidents Felipe Calderon and Vicente Fox have all confirmed that Mexico under no circumstances will pay for the wall.
3. Reasons Mexico would pay for it make no sense.
“Mexico will pay because we have a trade deficit is literally not how anything works,” Oliver said. “Yes we did buy $58 billion in goods and services from Mexico than they bought from us last year, that money went to Mexican businesses.”
4. The wall would be largely illegal.
George W. Bush’s 2006 Secure Fence Act called for 700 miles of fencing along the border and ultimately ended up obstructing the flow of the Rio Grande and destroying the graves of Native Americans, which goes against the Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act.
5. The wall won’t stop illegal immigration.
“Nearly half of unauthorized migrants enter the country legally, through a point of entry such as an airport or a border crossing point, Usually with visas that they overstayed,” according to the Pew Research Center.
6. The Border Patrol doesn’t even believe the wall will be effective.
“If you build a 30-foot wall, all it’s going to do is create a market for 31-foot ladders,” they said.
7. They could just use a rope to get over.
Trump has even admitted this. “If they ever get up [on the wall] they’re in trouble,” Trump said. “‘Cause there’s no way to get down… Maybe a rope.”
8. Walls haven’t stopped drugs from getting over the border.
Catapults, cannons and strong arms have all been used to hurl drugs long distances. So much for “they’re bringing drugs” as a reason for erecting a wall.
9. Trump’s wall is racist and xenophobic.
“Donald Trump has been uncommonly clear about who we need to be protected from,” Oliver said.
10. Since the Mexican government won’t pay for it, the wall will actually end up costing each American $77.
“Given everything we’ve seen, is it worth it,” Oliver asked. “I suggest instead of building the wall we use the money to buy every man, woman and child in America a Palmer Waffle Iron.”
Watch the full segment below:
