S6 E18: Boris Johnson & Puerto Rico: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Puerto Rico

• The week saw significant events, including North Korea resuming missile launches, Robert Müller irritating Congress and the president, and the president threatening France with tariffs on their wines in a manner described as stupid 48s.
• The president's statement about preferring American wines over French wines, despite not drinking wine, was seen as judging things purely on their looks, which is considered "on brand" for Trump 54s.
• Puerto Rico was in the news due to the embattled governor, Ricardo Roso, finally agreeing to step down after protests, with people celebrating in the streets 1m40s.
• The resignation was seen as a historic moment, given Puerto Rico's history of systemic corruption, a massive debt crisis, crippling austerity measures, and an inadequate response to Hurricane Maria 2m16s.
• The final straw that led to Roso's resignation was the leak of nearly 900 pages of a private group chat, which included personal attacks on rival politicians, sexist comments, and anti-gay slurs 2m38s.
• The leaked messages featured the governor making derogatory comments about a female adversary and joking about the dead bodies accumulating during and after Hurricane Maria 3m27s.
• The protests against Roso were enormous, with hundreds of thousands of people participating, and one protester's statement about the governor's actions during the hurricane was particularly notable 4m30s.
• People in Puerto Rico protested against Governor Rosello, with demonstrations taking place on the streets, on bicycles, underwater, and even on horseback, showing widespread discontent with his leadership 4m34s.
• Governor Rosello initially refused to step down despite the protests, and in an interview with Fox News' Shep Smith, he struggled to name a single person in Puerto Rico who supported him, eventually mentioning the mayor of San Sebastian, Javier Gimenez 5m7s.
• However, it was later revealed that Javier Gimenez does not actually support Governor Rosello, contradicting the governor's claim 6m11s.
• Governor Rosello's mistake in naming a specific supporter was seen as a significant error, as it allowed the claim to be easily verified and disproven 6m25s.
• After over a week of protests, Governor Rosello finally announced that he would leave office, but the future of Puerto Rico's leadership remains unclear due to the resignation of the secretary of state and the secretary of justice's decision not to take the job 6m46s.
• Despite the uncertainty, the people of Puerto Rico are optimistic, and the protests have united the island against Governor Rosello's leadership, with some seeing his departure as a positive outcome 7m19s.
• The situation in Puerto Rico has been compared to a unifying force, with the island's residents coming together to demand change and remove Governor Rosello from office 7m42s.

Boris Johnson

• The UK has a new prime minister, Boris Johnson, who took over from Teresa May in a transition of power sealed with a handshake with the queen 9m47s.
• Boris Johnson is known for his appearance, which is often described as consistently immaculately wrong, with photos of him often looking ridiculous 10m39s.
• As mayor of London, Boris Johnson famously got stuck on a zipline while promoting the 2012 Olympics 10m22s.
• Boris Johnson has a unique way of relaxing, claiming to make models of buses by painting old wooden crates, which is a claim that is hard to believe 11m27s.
• Boris Johnson was a crucial leader in the Brexit campaign, riding around in a gigantic red bus with a complete lie splashed across the side of it 12m23s.
• As prime minister, Boris Johnson now faces the challenge of finalizing a Brexit withdrawal deal by October 31st, which is less than 100 days from now 12m38s.
• Britain's new leader, Boris Johnson, is often compared to Donald Trump due to his clownish figure and passing relationship with the truth, but he is more complex than Trump in several ways 12m49s.
• Unlike Trump, Johnson is more than happy to show off his intelligence and wit, often charmingly dropping sporting trivia, such as the origin of ping pong, which he claims was invented on the dining tables of England in the 19th century 13m57s.
• Johnson's ability to laugh at himself and appear ridiculous has helped him survive and even benefit from situations that would have damaged other politicians' careers, such as an absurd zipline photo from the Olympics 14m49s.
• Johnson's appeal can be attributed to his lovable and humorous nature, which has allowed him to weather adversity with good cheer, but there may be more calculation behind this image than initially apparent 15m26s.
• Johnson learned at an early age the benefit of making himself the butt of the joke, as seen in a story where he hid behind a pillar to read his lines in a French play, which ended up being funnier than if he had learned them perfectly 15m42s.
• Johnson has admitted that he learned from acting in plays at Eton that he could get more laughs by appearing as if he didn't know his lines, rather than actually remembering them 16m28s.
• Boris Johnson's bumbling persona is a carefully calibrated act, allowing him to appear charmingly unprepared while hiding his actual lack of knowledge 17m2s.
• Johnson's appearance, including his hair and clothing, is also part of this act, with multiple people suggesting that he intentionally messes up his hair before TV appearances 17m48s.
• Johnson's ability to present himself as a relatable, cartoonish Englishman has helped him to inoculate himself against criticism of his privileged background, including his time at the elite Bullington Club at Oxford University 18m41s.
• Some of Johnson's humorous moments, such as a clip of him talking about painting buses, may have been attempts to manipulate public perception and change Google search results 19m4s.
• Once you realize that Johnson's gaffes may be calculated manipulations, it can be difficult to see him in the same way again, and it raises questions about his true intentions 19m28s.
• Beneath his charming surface, Johnson has a history of dishonesty, including being fired from his first job at the Times of London for making up a quote 19m57s.
• Johnson went on to build a following at the Daily Telegraph by spreading flagrant falsehoods about the European Union, which helped lay the groundwork for Brexit 20m27s.
• Johnson's history of dishonesty and manipulation raises concerns about his responsibility and trustworthiness as a public figure 20m19s.
• Boris Johnson used a "save get" key command to paint a caricature of the EU, often using the phrase "Britain stood alone last night" followed by a claim that Europe was planning to abolish something, such as prawn cocktail crisps 20m51s.
• Prawn cocktail crisps are a real flavor in the UK, and Boris Johnson wrote columns claiming the EU was attempting to ban them, which was a complete lie 21m5s.
• Despite being debunked 25 years earlier, Boris Johnson cited the "Great War against the British prawn cocktail crisp" as part of his case for Brexit in 2016 21m44s.
• Boris Johnson has also made references to immigrants as people who want to "leech off the state" and has used derogatory language to describe various groups, including gay men and Muslim women 22m27s.
• When confronted about his comments, Boris Johnson used charm and offered tea to reporters, successfully deflecting their questions and turning the situation into a lighthearted moment 23m24s.
• This tactic, referred to as "full Brit face," allowed Boris Johnson to diffuse the situation and avoid apologizing for his comments, with the journalists present eventually laughing along with him 24m18s.
• Boris Johnson has less than 100 days to negotiate a Brexit deal, and his charm may not be enough to secure a favorable agreement, particularly since it did not serve him well during his time as Foreign Secretary in 2017 24m39s.
• In 2017, Johnson visited Myanmar, where he recited Rudyard Kipling's colonialist poem "Mandaly" to himself, which was seen as a reminder of British rule and potentially unwise 24m51s.
• Johnson's time in the Foreign Office was marked by several gaffes, with one journalist comparing working with him to walking behind a horse and shoveling its manure 26m9s.
• If Johnson fails to secure a Brexit deal, the consequences could be severe, with most economists predicting a deep recession, and the EU may be immune to his charms due to his past actions and comments 26m42s.
• Johnson has made extravagant and unkeepable promises, including devising a way to sever Northern Ireland from the EU without creating a hard border with Ireland, but his suggestions have been rejected by EU Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker 27m11s.
• Johnson's bumbling charm may work in low-stakes situations, but it is not suitable for the high-stakes Brexit negotiations, where focus, discipline, and detail are required, which are not his strong suits 27m41s.
• Johnson's past comments and actions, including referring to the French as "turds" and comparing the EU to Hitler, have likely damaged his relationships with EU leaders and reduced the chances of a successful negotiation 26m57s.
• The EU's position, as stated by Jean-Claude Juncker, is that the withdrawal agreement is the best and only agreement possible, which means Johnson's suggestions have been rejected 27m28s.
• Boris Johnson's plan to mitigate the effects of a no-deal Brexit involves suggesting that the UK could trade freely with the EU under Article 24, paragraph 5B of an existing trade agreement, but the next paragraph, 5C, makes it clear that this is not possible 29m7s.
• A journalist challenged Johnson on this point, asking how he would handle paragraph 5C, and Johnson responded by saying he would confide entirely in paragraph 5B, showing a lack of attention to detail 29m34s.
• This lack of attention to detail is alarming, especially for a process that could impact millions of people, and it is unlikely that Johnson's skills will be enough to overcome his deficits as Prime Minister 30m13s.
• Johnson has backed himself into a corner, as Parliament has rejected the EU's deal and the EU says there is no better deal to be had, leaving him with no good way out of the situation 30m31s.
• Johnson's situation is compared to being stranded over a volcano, with no clear way to escape, and it is unlikely that he will be able to talk his way out of the situation 30m48s.

Other Topics

• The conversation then shifts to a discussion of CNBC's Joe Kernen and his co-workers, including Ramy Malik's fake teeth, which were not actually awarded for best actor 31m12s.
• The conversation also touches on the topic of sweat glands in the ear canal, with Andrew mentioning that there are active sweat glands in this area 31m42s.
• The show ends with a mention of Mike Myers and John Oliver, and a transition to the "squa planner" segment 32m9s.