Let John Oliver Explain How the Death Penalty Is Like the McRib

Let John Oliver Explain How the Death Penalty Is Like the McRib (Mediaite)

Continuing his proud one-week tradition of tackling the tough stories, John Oliver went out on a limb for his second episode of Last Week Tonight and did a twelve-minute bit about the death penalty. If you watch the whole thing, there’s a video at the end of tiny hamsters eating tiny burritos.

Going off last week’s botched execution of an Oklahoma inmate, Oliver acknowledged the desire to have the death penalty, even as reason, data, and experience seem to argue against it. “The death penalty is like the McRib,” Oliver said. “When you can’t have it, it seems so tantalizing. But when they bring it back, you think, ‘Wow, this is ethically wrong.’”