John Oliver said that Republican claims of election fraud by non-citizens are creating the impression that there’s cause for concern, despite the fact that none of their claims have ever been backed up by actual evidence. And on this week’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Oliver singled out Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo for aiding and abetting Donald Trump’s lies.
He reported on how Bartiromo delivered “this doozy” on air in August, citing an unnamed man in Texas who’d claimed he couldn’t get into the DMV in Weatherford because of a massive line of immigrants outside, who were being recruited to vote with signs in Spanish.
In reality, none of that happened. There is no Texas DMV in Weatherford. Local police found no nearby DMV offices setting up tents or tables with signs and a local GOP official in Texas confirmed that there had only been two attempts by non-citizens to vote in that county in the past 15 years.
“I’m genuinely curious about the man who saw a massive line at the DMV and their instinct was this must be illegals registering to vote, and not the DMV functioning like it has since the dawn of time. Do they blame all common inconveniences on immigration?” Oliver wondered, adding: “And while you might instinctively know that claim is bullshit, it’s even dumber than you think,” he said, “As Baritromo explained, her source was a friend of a friend’s wife. Something that didn’t stop her happily regurgitating it on the news.”
“And if you like that, you can find well-sourced stories like it on Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: with your Drunkest Aunt, Sundays at 10 on Fox Business.”
Yet two days after Bartiromo’s broadcast, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation into her rumor. “And that is actually a bit of a pattern for Paxton. He’ll loudly start voter fraud investigations, and even when they amount to nothing, he’ll have created the impression something is there,” Oliver said.
