Oliver Dismisses Dems' Alaska Tricks, Claims GOP Rhetoric 'Has Been Truly Ugly'

Alex Christy
November 3rd, 2026 2:00 PM

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HBO’s John Oliver used Sunday’s edition of Last Week Tonight to give viewers one last pep talk before the midterms that included assuring them that Democratic trickery in Alaska is nothing to be concerned about. Oliver also warned that Republicans are obsessed with “Islamophobia” and “transphobia” and that “the level of bigotry this year has been truly ugly.”

Oliver tried to claim that Democrats’ Alaskan deceit was too incompetent or silly to be truly threatening, “Yeah, Democrats allegedly tried to confuse voters by getting another Dan Sullivan to run. Which, again, confirms my theory that when you hear ‘Secret Republican plot,’ it's always some sort of House of Cards chicanery, but when you hear ‘Secret Democratic plot,’ it's the most rinky-dink Scooby Doo clown car mix 'em up imaginable.”

 

 

In addition, Oliver’s attempt to dismiss the scandal involved him claiming nothing out of the ordinary happened, “Now, both the Democratic candidate's campaign, and the party's Senate campaign committee, have denied that report. But it wouldn't be the first time that tactic's been used. In fact, it's been called an age-old election trick, and has happened up and down ballots, across party lines. It's also, crucially, not illegal — that'd only be the case if it involved things like falsifying residency documents, laundering campaign funds, or offering direct payments. In fact, as one expert put it, ‘If trying to confuse voters was a crime, then every politician would be in jail.’ What's more, as you can see from the ballot — the Dan Sullivan who's the incumbent Republican senator is clearly marked ‘incumbent.’"

Later, Oliver was discussing President Trump’s attacks on Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed when he introduced an ad, “And look, it shouldn't be surprising that Trump engages in Islamophobia. But the party seems happy to follow him into that sewer. Just watch this attack ad put out by the Senate Republican Leadership Fund.”

The ad featured a narrator quoting El-Sayed, “When I die and stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Sharia-compliant way," and a second narrator adding, “The Sharia Law way. What's that? Using government to dictate how women dress, requiring they have a guardian or prohibiting women from filing for divorce. The Sharia Law compliant way. Abdul El-Sayed's way.”

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Oliver pounced, “Okay, that's wildly misleading. First, that quote comes from an interview El-Sayed gave 17 years ago — when he was 24 — and was speaking to a reporter writing about a Michigan bank that offered a special kind of home loan for Islamic customers. Back then, he said he wanted to conduct himself in "The Sharia-compliant way," meaning using the religious code as a guideline for his personal life — y'know, how most religions work.”

He also thought Republicans were being hypocritical because he thinks the things mentioned in the ad are analogues to being pro-life, “And it's a pretty bold as a move for the Republican Senate Leadership fund to be like, ‘Hey, don't vote for this guy! He thinks the government should take agency away from women! Instead, why not vote for the party that overturned Roe v. Wade?’"

Oliver then introduced a quartet of ads by lamenting, “But it's not just Islamophobia. In many states, the biggest bet Republicans have made has, once again, been on transphobia. In basically every battleground state, there've been a slew of misleading transphobic attack ads, often using some variation of the same familiar tagline.”

 

 

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After several ads arguing Democrats are for they/them, Oliver returned to quip, “Wow, normally to hear that many shitty pronoun jokes in a row, you have to be watching a Netflix special someone got paid millions of dollars for. But the level of bigotry this year has been truly ugly.”

Oliver’s show airs on Sunday night, but he tapes on Saturday, so he did not have the opportunity to address Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsing Republican Mike Rogers. However, if he did, he would very likely sound similar to Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers because El-Sayed’s relationship with anti-Semitism is the kind of bigotry he would be happy to either ignore or make excuses for.

Here is a transcript for the November 1 show:

HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

11/1/2026

11:17 PM ET

JOHN OLIVER: Yeah, Democrats allegedly tried to confuse voters by getting another Dan Sullivan to run. Which, again, confirms my theory that when you hear "Secret Republican plot," it's always some sort of House of Cards chicanery, but when you hear "Secret Democratic plot," it's the most rinky-dink Scooby Doo clown car mix 'em up imaginable.

Now, both the Democratic candidate's campaign, and the party's Senate campaign committee, have denied that report. But it wouldn't be the first time that tactic's been used. In fact, it's been called an age-old election trick, and has happened up and down ballots, across party lines. It's also, crucially, not illegal — that'd only be the case if it involved things like falsifying residency documents, laundering campaign funds, or offering direct payments. In fact, as one expert put it, "If trying to confuse voters was a crime, then every politician would be in jail." What's more, as you can see from the ballot —  the Dan Sullivan who's the incumbent Republican senator is clearly marked "incumbent."

…

OLIVER: And look, it shouldn't be surprising that Trump engages in Islamophobia. But the party seems happy to follow him into that sewer. Just watch this attack ad put out by the Senate Republican Leadership Fund.

NARRATOR: Abdul El-Sayed in his own words. 

NARRATOR 2: “When I die and stand before God and go through everything I did in my life, I don’t want to say I did it the easy way instead of the Sharia-compliant way.”

NARRATOR: The Sharia Law way. What's that? Using government to dictate how women dress, requiring they have a guardian or prohibiting women from filing for divorce. The Sharia Law compliant way. Abdul El-Sayed's way.

OLIVER: Okay, that's wildly misleading. First, that quote comes from an interview El-Sayed gave 17 years ago — when he was 24 — and was speaking to a reporter writing about a Michigan bank that offered a special kind of home loan for Islamic customers. Back then, he said he wanted to conduct himself in "The Sharia-compliant way," meaning using the religious code as a guideline for his personal life — y'know, how most religions work. And it's a pretty bold as a move for the Republican Senate Leadership fund to be like, "Hey, don't vote for this guy! He thinks the government should take agency away from women! Instead, why not vote for the party that overturned Roe v. Wade?"

But it's not just Islamophobia. In many states, the biggest bet Republicans have made has, once again, been on transphobia. In basically every battleground state, there've been a slew of misleading transphobic attack ads, often using some variation of the same familiar tagline.

NARRATOR 3: Don Davis doesn't always show up to work, but when he does show up, he's fighting for they/them, not us.

NARRATOR 4: Mary Peltola works for they/them. Not for us.

NARRATOR 5: Annie Andrews is for they/them. Not for our values. Not for South Carolina.

NARRATOR 6: Radical liberal James Talarico, for they/them, not you.

OLIVER: Wow, normally to hear that many shitty pronoun jokes in a row, you have to be watching a Netflix special someone got paid millions of dollars for. But the level of bigotry this year has been truly ugly.

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