John Oliver delved proper into his subject of the evening, discussing Hungary‘s descent into far-right populism through Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s documented authorized coup.
Whereas making a degree about Orbán and his rich supporters’ acquisition of myriad on-line and print publications, radio retailers and TV stations, and the way adverse protection of the federal government has nosedived since then, the political comedian took a shot at Paramount on Final Week Tonight.
“Wow. A far-right chief’s buddies and allies simply shopping for up all of the media retailers within the nation and turning them into conservative sycophants — are you able to think about that? I positive can’t,” he mentioned sarcastically, as a picture of the David Ellison-owned company flashed on display screen. “That’s positively not one thing I’ve had recurring nightmares about for the previous month!”
President Donald Trump and different MAGA supporters, like Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro, have championed Orbán, although Hungary’s financial and sociopolitical decline has been well-documented. The nation’s election is about for April 12.
“Orbán’s stranglehold on energy needs to be alarming for us right here within the states,” Oliver cautioned, “as a result of he has clearly been an inspiration to American conservatives, to the purpose that JD Vance is outwardly planning to go to Hungary to indicate assist for Orbán forward of their election. And that’s as a result of, for them, Orbán will not be a cautionary story; he’s a blueprint.”
He continued: “We’re fortunate to have the checks and balances that we do, however we might do nicely to observe for warning indicators of what occurred to Hungary beginning to occur right here, like — small issues, I don’t know — stacking the courts, or shameless gerrymandering, or fear-mongering about immigrants, or presidential allies shopping for up the media. Something you would possibly spot like that!”
Within the newest replace to the WBD-Paramount merger, which got here on the heels of Paramount’s accomplished acquisition of Skydance final yr, Warner Bros. Discovery has set an April 23 particular assembly of shareholders to vote on the media big’s sale Paramount Skydance, a key step ahead within the course of.
