John Oliver angrily reminds post-Brexit Britain, pre-Trump America there are 'no f—ing do-overs'

John Oliver can't believe Britain voted for Brexit
(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

John Oliver's Last Week Tonight began on Sunday with his native United Kingdom, "a place whose very name, after this week's events, is beginning to sound a bit sarcastic." Oliver had warned against Britain leaving the European Union last week, and Britons ignored him — and their prime minister, who's stepping down after the Brexit debacle of his own making. Cameron's fall "should make me happy, but in this situation it doesn't," Oliver said. "It's like catching an ice cream cone out of the air because a child was hit by a car."

Leading Brexit proponents Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage both declared the vote Britain's "independence day," which Oliver found odd, because first, "Britain was already independent — in fact, it's what many other countries celebrate their independence from — and second, the sequel to the movie they're quoting actually opened this week, and features the wholesale destruction of London, which is beginning to feel pretty f—ing appropriate right now."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.