Sunday night John Oliver decided to skip the usual introduction on Last Week Tonight to pay tribute to those affected by the mass shooting in Orlando.
As is normally the case, Oliver’s thoughts were right to the point…
“As I’m sure you know by now, at least 50 people were killed by a gunman at a gay nightclub in what is being described as a terrorist attack. And look, it’s still early and details are still emerging, and right now, this just hurts.”
“And the worst thing is, this pain is so familiar. In Paris last November, terrorists seemed to target places that symbolize everything that is wonderful about France — culture, music, restaurants. And in Orlando early this morning, a gunman attacked a Latin night at a gay club in the theme park capital of the world. And for the record, I will happily embrace a Latin night at a gay club in the theme park capital of the world as the ultimate symbol of what is truly wonderful about America.”
He then went to apologize for even doing the show in the wake of the attack that left 50 dead, 53 injured and hundreds affected the world over.
“It’s hard to even know what to do in the wake of an event like this. We do have a comedy show for you. We’ll begin it in a minute with what will seem like jarringly inappropriate jangly music, and I’m sure there will be much more to say about Orlando going forward, but for right now, on a day when some dipshit terrorist wants us to focus on one man’s act of brutality and hatred, it might be worth seeing this video, which was posted to Twitter today.”
“It shows hundreds and hundreds of people this morning lining up around the block in Florida waiting to donate blood. And it kind of reminds you that that terrorist dipshit is vastly outnumbered.”
If nothing else, as usual, this tragedy once again shows how people can band together in times of tragedy and support one another. Between all of the people donating blood and those who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a GoFundMe for the victims of the shooting we can still rise above the hate if we so choose.
Related: How John Oliver Is Influencing Real Change In The World
H/T Us Weekly