John Oliver’s queer-themed, Mike Pence-trolling children’s book, A Day In the Life of Marlon Bundo, is a certified smash. If the host of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” had his way, however, America wouldn’t need its levity so badly.
The book, released Sunday, takes aim at the vice president’s anti-LGBTQ platform by depicting the Pence family rabbit, Marlon Bundo, as gay and in love with another male rabbit. By the conclusion, the bunnies even tie the knot in a same-sex wedding.
Oliver dropped by “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Tuesday, and explained his incentive for the book, which was written by one of his show’s writers, Jill Twiss, and is currently sold out on Amazon. His 2-year-old son, Hudson, was also an inspiration.
“Part of the reason for writing this book was so that I could read something to him which paints the world in the light that you want it to be rather than the way that it’s currently being painted,” Oliver told DeGeneres. Hudson, he added, “doesn’t really understand what’s happening in the world ― long may that continue.”
The success of A Day In the Life of Marlon Bundo came as a surprise to Oliver, and plans for a second printing are already underway. Still, the HBO host said he wishes the Trump administration would make his job as a comedian more difficult.
“It would be really nice, on a human level and a comedic level, if there was less happening,” he said. “We’d all sleep better.”
Proceeds from the Bundo book will be donated to the Trevor Project, which supports LGBTQ youth, as well as the AIDS United charity.
