John Oliver pulled a Trump on you

The 22-minute production by John Oliver's team was a great spiel. The argument of the monologue was that Trump is taking everyone on a ride with lies – except, of course, Oliver is the one who is taking you on a ride. First Oliver says Trump is not actually self-funding his campaign because he "loaned" – and did not donate – money to himself. Oliver does not tell you that in most cases, these loans are one-way streets. It's an effective donation. Then Oliver says Trump actually accepted $7 million in donations, "proving" he is not self-funding. Well, Hillary raised $180M, Cruz $104M, and Sanders $96M and counting. Trump, the GOP frontrunner since July 2015, got only $7 million in donations – pocket change in presidential politics. This actually shows that Trump does not actively solicit donations; he just does not reject them. Oliver, however, has you believe that $7 million in donations prove the opposite of what it proves.

Oliver spends a third of his monologue mocking Trump's business record. Good job – and yes, Trump had a leg up in business with his father's wealth. But there are plenty of millionaires whose sons played with their money, yet they and their sons are in the dustbins of history. Donald, on the other hand, built up his father's net worth to levels Fred – his father – never had on his own. Despite being wiped out in the early 1990s, Donald came back and has been a consistent billionaire ever since. Few people have done it on his level. According to Forbes, Trump is worth $4.5 billion. This is 18 times more than what Fred was reportedly worth when he died in 1999. A very limited number of people – with or without their fathers' help – have been on the Forbes list so many times as Trump; few have been there after a wipeout. Any joker (or GOP operative) can produce an equally destructive yet more honest video against Hillary's foreign policy "successes," thus discrediting one of Hillary's claims to the throne. Don't get me started on the fact that Hillary as secretary of state emailed her staff asking help how to send a fax or to recharge an iPad. Oliver says Trump has been on both sides of all the issues over the years. This claim is also used by Trump opponents in the GOP, but the same can be said about "stupid" Democrats voting for Hillary. Mrs. Clinton changed position on most major issues. Hillary shifted on redefining marriage, amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and criminal justice only in recent years with an eye on the White House. Less than a decade ago, Hillary (and Obama, Biden) were of the Senate Democrats who voted to build a 700-mile-long wall; now Hillary mocks Trump for wanting a wall. Half the reason Democrats vote for Hillary is because of her last name, but there is hardly any major Clinton-era policy that the Democrats of today still support. Hillary's signature action in the Senate is voting for the Iraq war, yet Dems are about to crown her their nominee. Oliver played the clip of Trump saying the U.S. needs to kill families of terrorists. Crazy talk – but last year, the NYT reported that according to a "very rough estimate" compiled by an expert, 3,852 people have been killed from U.S. drone strikes. They were mostly civilians – including American citizens – and mostly since Obama came into office. Trump is guilty of saying things done under Obama, but few Oliver viewers are aware of it. In closing, Oliver makes fun of Trump's name. Cute. On merit, however, Oliver did to his viewers what he says Trump does to you...or what can be done against Hillary many times over. You can find Yossi on Twitter at @YossiGestetner.