Back from Easter break, Last Week Tonight‘s John Oliver spent the majority of his program going in on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reckless Department of Health & Human Services cuts, anti-vaccine stance and “dehumanizing” comments about autistic people.
“This is a man who is clearly in way over his worm-riddled head,” Oliver said. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing, he doesn’t know who he’s fired, he doesn’t even know how many diabetic people there are in China. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s currently spreading dangerous nonsense and gutting life-saving research, all while bringing in a basement quack [David Geier]. RFK in this job is dangerous.”
Speaking to the haphazard cuts of HHS made by RFK — which have seemingly followed DOGE’s erratic and irrational downsizing, and which physicians, researchers and other experts have warned will result in needless deaths — Oliver quipped, “The rules for restructuring HHS should be the same as the ones for a bris. It is crucially important to know exactly what you are cutting. Speed is just not the most important thing.”
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Throughout the evening, Oliver also ridiculed RFK’s “rabid” conspiracy theories and strange behavior, referencing an article by The Daily Beast, which reported the department head went barefoot down an airplane aisle, including its bathroom.
“I know, I literally just said 9/11 out loud [which RFK won’t “take sides” on], but RFK dragging his urine-soaked free-range piggies through first class is literally the worst thing to ever happen in American airspace,” Oliver joked.
Oliver also called BS on some of RFK’s widely cited statistics, including one in which he falsely claimed that half of the population of China has diabetes. The host remarked that it was more embarrassing to fact-check this claim than previous inquiries, such as VP JD Vance’s much-memed sex with a couch debacle.
“One response from a doctor called Kennedy’s statement ‘ludicrous,’ adding ‘these stats might be related to the worm in his brain,’” he said.
Oliver also delved into RFK’s virulent anti-vaccine stance and disparaging comments about people with autism, shining light on the spreading measles epidemic (which has led to the first pediatric measles death in 22 years), as well as instances of infant whooping cough deaths and uncertainty surrounding the bird flu.
The comedian likened the department’s gutting to “finding out what each of your organs does as someone removes them one by one,” ending emphatically that Kennedy “needs to go and by impeachment, if necessary.”