John Oliver, British king of US political satire, looks beyond Trump
Covering the president brings a different set of difficulties from covering the campaign, says the Last Week Tonight creator
New York — In the age of Donald Trump, it is a British comic with a mild regional accent and an acerbic wit who is the most popular satirist on American television. John Oliver returns to US screens this Sunday with a fourth season of HBO’s award-winning Last Week Tonight at a time when the Trump presidency stands accused of testing the limits of freedom of expression and a free press. Oliver, probably more than anyone else, has stepped into the shoes of Jon Stewart, the American satirist who transformed US political comedy before retiring from The Daily Show in 2015 just as the Trump train got started. It was The Daily Show that gave Oliver his big break, plucking him from obscurity in England to work on the show from 2006 to 2014, when he appeared in a somber suit with rumpled British-rocker hair for reporter-style segments. He even filled in for Stewart in 2013 while the American worked on a film project. HBO then offered him his own show. Last Week Tonight launched in 2014. Sitt...
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