John Oliver ripped into Pete Hegseth’s repeated denials about a growing military crisis at sea or, as Oliver puts it, the Navy’s “floating nightmare.”
Reports from the families of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Boxer have revealed horrifying living conditions for weeks. Family members have raised the alarm over dwindling supplies, inadequate food, broken toilets, and a lack of hygiene and maintenance.
The conditions have hit morale and sparked a significant mental health crisis and declining morale amongst sailors. Alarming new reports allege that several sailors have tried to throw themselves overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been in the Middle East since January.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have done their best to play down the crisis.
On Last Week Tonight, Oliver played a clip from Danielle Rapa, whose son is on board the Lincoln. “He describes the overall experience as a scene out of American Horror Story, where he feels like everybody is dead, but they don’t know it yet,” she told news reporters.
“Well, that’s not good,” Oliver said. “You never want to be in a position where you describe your job as a scene out of American Horror Story.”
“Honestly, if you absolutely have to choose a Ryan Murphy show for your workplace to resemble, the obvious answer is All’s Fair,” he continued. “Kim Kardashian, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, and Glenn Close in different shades of magenta suits...”
“Yeah, that’s the Ryan Murphy production you’re going to want to be stuck in, not this floating nightmare,” quipped the late-night host, then turning his attention to Hegseth.
“Now, Pete Hegseth has claimed that the ship’s conditions are being completely misrepresented by those who are actually experiencing them, saying, ‘We make sure that every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide at every single moment,’” continued the HBO anchor.
“And if he means to go certifiably insane, I’m inclined to agree with him there.”
Oliver said the administration’s reassurances about conditions onboard their military ships have “not been reassuring.”
Democrats are now demanding answers as horror stories emerge from the ships. “These reports warrant immediate attention,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said in a letter to Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
Hegseth dismissed the crisis while throwing praise at the sailors, telling reporters, “Some deployments are longer than others, and I have more respect and gratitude for those sailors than anybody. What they do in those high seas in those austere conditions with less port calls—it’s incredible.”
Trump, meanwhile, outright denied the concerns expressed by several family members to multiple news outlets. When asked whether families are worried about their loved ones at sea, Trump replied, “No, they’re not.”
