John Oliver took aim at Alabama governor Kay Ivey on Sunday night, ripping her to shreds for using anti-transgender messaging as a cornerstone of her re-election campaign. And, as always, Oliver didn’t sugarcoat his thoughts.
Before getting into his main segment, the late night host highlighted the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, which Ivey signed and went into effect last week, making it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison to prescribe or administer gender-affirming care to transgender individuals under 19 years old. A judge on Friday blocked the part that made it a felony.
Still, Oliver fumed at Ivey even attempting to enforce something so “absolutely appalling.” You can watch the full segment in the video here and above.
“Look, there are lots of understandable reasons that someone in Alabama might be criminally punished,” Oliver said. “For murder, say, or for running a Ponzi scheme, or for creating this actual statue at an Alabama McDonald’s, of Ronald McDonald reimagined as a giant boll weevil. But no one should ever be facing criminal punishment for providing health care to young people.”
To illustrate how Ivey focuses on anti-trans messaging, Oliver pulled up a clip of one of her re-election ads, in which she says “Some things are just facts. Summer’s hot, the ocean’s big, and gender is a question of biology, not identity. Here in Alabama, we’re gonna go by how God made us, because we identify with something liberals…
