Late Night Last Week: Charlamagne Tha God On The Right’s “DEI” Attacks

Summer vacation continued for much of late night last week. But two programs soldiered on as the rest of the shows presumably prepare for the Democratic Convention next week and the end of summer. 

On The Daily Show, Charlamagne Tha God was back behind the desk. He returned for a new installment of “In My Opinion,” in which he tackles the right’s racist attacks against Kamala Harris, including Donald Trump’s recent comments at a National Association of Black Journalists meeting and the labeling of her as a “DEI” hire. In his monologue, Charlamagne points out that the prevailing logic for the Harris campaign as they vetted a running mate (now Tim Walz) was that they should pick a white dude, which of course they did. “According to Republicans, Tim Walz isn’t a DEI hire,” he said, “because to them, every letter in DEI actually stands for the same thing: Black, Black, Black.” 

Charlamagne then went on to address the idea that Harris did not do enough as vice president, or the notion that she should have used the position to define herself. “Remember that one big thing she did,” he asks. “Me neither!” But Charlamagne goes on to make the point that vice presidents are supposed to exist in the background as a safety net. “A VP is like a carbon monoxide detector,” he said. “You want to have one, but if it makes any noise, something has gone wrong.” Cue the Dick Cheney hunting clips. 



Correspondents Hit the Campaign Trail

The presidential race is moving so fast, it is hard to keep up, even for late night. But thankfully, Jordan Klepper is on the scene. He waded back into familiar territory, attending a Trump rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Klepper talked with Trump voters about the news: Biden’s dropout, the VP selection processes, and the attempted assassination of Trump. You will be shocked to learn that many attendees had many thoughts about many things.  



On the Democratic side, Grace Kuhlenschmidt attended a Harris rally in Philadelphia, where Walz was introduced as her running mate. “So how excited are you about Tim Walz,” Kuhlenschmidt asked, “on a scale from ‘Joe Biden is running for president’ to ‘Joe Biden just dropped out?’”



John Oliver on Hawaii’s Land Crisis

Following his take on the latest in the presidential race, John Oliver used the one year anniversary of the horrific wildfires in Hawaii, especially on the island of Maui, to look into the history of the state and in particular the egregious treatment of the native people who live on the land. From the US government’s forced takeover of the state, to the military’s taking over and continued destruction of land during artillery training, and the recent trend of billionaires buying up all the land they can, Oliver tackled the history of the state that too often goes unnoticed. 

Oliver made a particular point to highlight the relationship between tourists and the local population. Yes, tourism is an essential industry. But too often, tourists are completely ignorant of the history of the land on which they vacation, and issues like the ongoing affordable housing crisis on the island, for example. “For native Hawaiians, it must be difficult to shake the feeling that you’re an afterthought,” he said. “It’s like being introduced by your parents saying, ‘These are our sons Tommy and Tommy’s brother.’ Or having a TV show announced as ‘Stick around after House of the Dragon.’ I imagine. I imagine that might be hurtful.”

Episodes of Last Week Tonight are typically uploaded to YouTube later in the week. In the meantime, you can watch the latest episode on Max or maybe, just maybe, find it online elsewhere.