Mexico will hold the biggest election in its history next Sunday, John Oliver said on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” and “that probably doesn’t mean much to most Americans.”
“What this actually means is that they could replace their president, their entire Congress and huge chunks of their state and local governments,” Oliver said Sunday night. “And many believe a major shift may be about to take place there because Mexicans are sick and tired of the status quo.”
Corruption is so prevalent in Mexico that there is even a bus tour of 10 city landmarks where public money has been diverted for private gain.
The frontrunner in the election is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a populist who often goes by his initials, AMLO.
“This is actually AMLO’s third time running for president,” Oliver said. “He lost in 2006 and 2012, not taking that first loss particularly well. Cause not only did he refuse to accept the results, he held a gigantic alternative inauguration ceremony in Mexico City in which he was sworn in with a fake sash and declared himself the legitimate president of Mexico. HIs supporters occupied the city’s central square for months and that is ridiculous. When Al Gore lost the 2000 election, he didn’t hold a fake inauguration. He just told us we were all going to die and it was our fault. It was just called basic good sportsmanship.”
AMLO is difficult to pin down on issues.
AMLO is kind of like Bernie Sanders but with a better haircut and significantly better Spanish. “He often makes big promises while keeping his own advisers guessing as to what he really means,” Oliver said. “In that way, he’s actually more reminiscent of a Mexican Donald Trump, which I know is a weird image to conjure up, like Orthodox Hitler or jacked Gandhi. The two concepts don’t fit well together.”
Check the video above to see what Oliver calls the most sexually explicit campaign commercial since the days of Teddy Roosevelt.
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