It's quite clear that the GOP healthcare proposal is a disaster: neither conservatives nor progressives support the bill [1]. But the people whom the plan hurts the most, those living below the poverty line, bear the brunt of its shortcomings — and John Oliver did not hold back when explaining just how destructive the bill is.
On his late-night show, Oliver pointed out that 6 to 15 million people, many of whom voted for Trump, could lose their coverage under the American Health Care Act. "Those hit the hardest, who stand to lose $5,000 or more under the new plan, are ironically a group that voted for Trump by a huge margin," Oliver said. "It's like if the people of Pompeii voted for the volcano."
So who actually benefits from the new bill? Well, surprise: the highest socioeconomic bracket will receive a massive tax break. "So this plan is literally taking money from the poor and giving it to the very rich," Oliver said.
Despite criticism from all sides (Oliver showed a clip of Fox News's Tucker Carlson questioning the bill's efficacy), House Speaker Paul Ryan remains convinced it's a viable bill. Even President Donald Trump [3], who said he had no idea health care would be so complicated [4], seems to have distanced himself from the bill since he has allegedly shied away from calling it Trumpcare.
Oliver, whose been known to vie for the president's attention before [5], has a plan: his show has bought ad air time on Fox & Friends (since Trump is evidently an avid watcher) and will air a spot in which an actor details just how much harder life will be under the new healthcare bill.