John Oliver Makes 11th-Hour Plea For Pro-Palestinian Voters To Support Harris

The "Last Week Tonight" host, with the help of some "Uncommitted" leaders, argued Trump would be miles more dangerous for Muslim and Arab communities.

In the final “Last Week Tonight” episode before Election Day, host John Oliver made a last-minute plea for hesitant pro-Palestinian voters to cast their ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris, arguing that she will be easier to hold accountable than former President Donald Trump when it comes to the U.S. role in Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

With just one day left in the presidential campaign, the Democratic nominee continues to struggle to earn the trust of voters who strongly oppose the Biden administration’s nearly unconditional military and diplomatic support for Israel ― specifically in Michigan, a crucial swing state with large Muslim and Arab American populations.

“First, let me say I wish Harris had done more to reach out to you, beyond sending Bill Clinton to basically scold you this week,” Oliver said in Sunday’s episode, referring to the former president’s incendiary speech in Michigan, where he defended Israeli military strikes that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

Some pro-Palestinian voters hoped that Harris would do more to reach out to Palestinian Americans after she replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. But with the vice president publicly claiming that her stance on Gaza policy would essentially be unchanged from Biden’s, many Democratic voters who support a free Palestine are on the fence about whether to continue backing their party’s chosen candidate.

“What I have endorsed is that people come out and vote, to not sit on the sideline, regardless of all that has unfolded and happened to you directly or indirectly,” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud told Democracy Now. “What I can assure you is that sitting on the sideline will accomplish nothing.”