CrosswordNewsletters
DAILY BEAST
ALL
  • Cheat Sheet
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Entertainment
  • Media
  • Innovation
  • Opinion
  • World
  • U.S. News
  • Scouted
  • Travel
CHEAT SHEET
    POLITICS
    • Biden World
    • Elections
    • Opinion
    • National Security
    • Congress
    • Pay Dirt
    • The New Abnormal
    • Right Richter
    • Trumpland
    MEDIA
    • Daytime Talk
    • Late-Night
    • Fox News
    U.S. NEWS
    • Identities
    • Crime
    • Race
    • LGBT
    • Extremism
    • Coronavirus
    WORLD
    • Russia
    • Europe
    • China
    • Middle East
    SCIENCE
    • Hunt for the Cure
    • Rabbit Hole
    TRAVEL
      ENTERTAINMENT
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Music
      • Comedy
      • Sports
      • Sex
      • TDBs Obsessed
      • Awards Shows
      • The Last Laugh
      HALF-FULL
        CULTURE
        • Power Trip
        • Fashion
        • Books
        • Royalist
        TECH
        • Disinformation
        SCOUTED
        • Face Masks
        • Clothing
        • Technology
        • Bedroom
        • Kitchen
        • Home
        • Fitness
        • The Case For
        • I'm Looking For
        • New Kids On the Block
        COUPONS
        • Adidas Promo Codes
        • DoorDash Promo Codes
        • H&M Coupons
        • Hotwire Promo Codes
        • Wine.com Discounts
        • Vitacost Coupons
        • Spanx Promo Codes
        • StubHub Promo Codes
        Products
        NewslettersPodcastsCrosswordsSubscription
        FOLLOW US
        GOT A TIP?

        SEARCH

        HOMEPAGE
        Fox News

        John Oliver Exposes Sean Hannity’s Lies About Portland Protesters

        YOU TRIED

        The “Last Week Tonight” host revealed how the Fox News pundit misrepresented the “violence” committed by Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon.

        Marlow Stern

        Senior Entertainment Editor

        Updated Jul. 27, 2020 9:37AM ET / Published Jul. 27, 2020 12:31AM ET 

        HBO

        On Sunday night, John Oliver kicked off the latest edition of his acclaimed late-night show, Last Week Tonight, by addressing the ongoing brutalizing of Black Lives Matter protesters by President Trump’s federal agents in Portland, Oregon.

        “The protests in Portland have actually been going on daily for nearly two months now, since the killing of George Floyd,” said Oliver. “But the deployment of federal agents was a sharp escalation of questionable legality, and yet, to hear the president tell it, he had no choice and it was a terrific idea.”

        Yes, in a press conference with reporters, Trump announced, “We’re doing a great job in Portland. Portland was very rough, and they called us in, and we did a good job—to put it mildly.”

        “OK, first: It’s never good when Trump says he’s doing a ‘great job,’ given that he thinks his administration is doing a ‘great job’ dealing with the coronavirus, and he once proclaimed Ben Affleck would do a ‘great job’ as Batman. Clearly, this man has no sense of what a ‘great job’ actually looks like,” explained Oliver, adding, “And for the record, those agents were very much not called in.” (Both the governor of Oregon and the mayor of Portland have said Trump ordered the federal agents in against their orders and that they want them to leave.)

          Plus, according to Oliver, “Masked individuals throwing people into an unmarked van is never a good idea if you want to de-escalate a situation. It’s not even a good idea for a surprise bachelorette party.”

          The HBO host went on to claim that “thing were not particularly dire in Portland” and that “Protests had been mostly peaceful there… it’s about one block that was actually starting to see fewer confrontations between protesters and police before federal agents moved in.”

          However, if you watch Fox News: “It’s the end of America as we know it.”

            Oliver then threw to Sean Hannity’s coverage of the Portland clashes. The Fox News host aired a graphic blaring “VIOLENCE IN PORTLAND” followed by a scroll of buildings that have been damaged there, including a supposed “fire-bombing,” deeming the chaos “insane.” (Hannity was recently accused of sexual harassment to boot; Fox News claims it did not happen.)

            “Yeah, it is insane—because that tone does not honestly reflect the conditions on the ground,” shot back Oliver. “That ‘fire-bombing,’ for instance, seems to be a reference to either a firework or a small fire that was set, which is significantly less dramatic than he’s trying to make it sound. And that rolling list next to Hannity’s head is mostly graffiti! In fact, graffiti is listed 12 times in a row there under the headline ‘VIOLENCE IN PORTLAND,’ which is a huge overstatement.”

            Oliver concluded: “Look, the troubling thing here is: Portland seems to be being used as a staging ground by the president to put on an authoritarian show of force, and this could end very badly—especially as he’s now apparently threatened to use federal force in other cities as well, which is absolutely outrageous.”

            Marlow Stern

            Senior Entertainment Editor

            @marlownycmarlow.stern@thedailybeast.com

            Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.

            READ THIS LIST

            DAILY BEAST
            • Podcasts
            • Cheat Sheet
            • Politics
            • Crime
            • Entertainment
            • Media
            • Covid-19
            • Half Full
            • U.S. News
            • Scouted
            • Travel
            • Subscription
            • Crossword
            • Newsletters
            • Podcasts
            • About
            • Contact
            • Tips
            • Jobs
            • Advertise
            • Help
            • Privacy
            • Code of Ethics & Standards
            • Diversity
            • Terms & Conditions
            • Copyright & Trademark
            • Sitemap
            • Coupons
            © 2022 The Daily Beast Company LLC