Last Week Tonight host John Oliver blasted Senate Republicans Sunday night over the secretive way they’ve handled writing their version of legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Oliver called the American Health Care Act (ACHA) “an act which answers the question, ‘What if a bus stop ad for a personal injury lawyer was a health care policy?'”
Then, Oliver turned his guns on Hatch for the GOP’s secretive approach to drafting the legislation. From the Hollywood Reporter:
Republican senators have been unusually secretive about their version of the health care bill, with reports claiming they plan to bypass the committee hearing and markup process, despite how many people the AHCA would affect. In C-SPAN footage, Sen. Claire McCaskill is seen asking Sen. Orrin Hatch if there will be a hearing for the health care bill that will be brought to the floor, and Hatch fumbled for an answer. An aide walked over and whispers in his ear, “Democrats have been invited to participate in this process and we are open to all ideas and suggestions.” Hatch turns and says, “Well, I don’t know that there is going to be another hearing, but we have invited you to participate.”
“Oh, that is pathetic,” said Oliver. “He really should not have lines fed to him, when he already looks like…,” Oliver trailed off as an aide walked over and whispered loudly to the host, “ventriloquist dummy of Mike Pence, you f—ing idiot.” He promptly repeats the line loudly.
Here’s the video of the episode:
