John Oliver downplays Hillary Clinton's email scandal: "Not good but not as bad as it looks"

"Never a satisfying thing to hear about the buffet at a Golden Corral"

Published September 26, 2016 11:07AM (EDT)

"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver on Sunday addressed the scandals hovering above the presidential candidates' respective heads. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton continues to be plagued by her use of a private server to handle classified government emails.

"Hillary's emails were basically the unofficial theme of the RNC," Oliver said, referring to July's Republican National Convention. "But while some of Hillary's opponents feel her email scandal should put her in prison, at least at the beginning, she claimed there was nothing to see."

In July 2015, Clinton told CNN's Brianna Keilar that her scandal was "kind of fun" and offers "a real-time behind-the-scenes look at what I was emailing about."

"There have been exaggerations on both sides" of the aisle, Oliver continued. "And while she's since acknowledged that her use of the server was a mistake, the idea persists that it was a good deal more."

In July, after the FBI concluded its investigation of Clinton's use of a private server, Director James B. Comey held a press conference to announce that no charges would be pursued against the secretary of state Clinton, despite the finding that she and her staff had been "extremely careless."

"So it's not good, but it's not as bad as it looks," Oliver added. "Which is never a satisfying thing to hear or indeed read about the buffet at a Golden Corral."


By Brendan Gauthier

Brendan Gauthier is a freelance writer.

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Elections 2016 Email Scandal Hillary Clinton Last Week Tonight With John Oliver