John Oliver treated the British plan to exit the EU the way Henry VIII treated his wives. The HBO comedian’s charged attack on the BREXIT plan (below) characterized the potential Brit exit from the EU as a fool’s errand, a minefield, and a likely disaster that was popular for all the wrong reasons — sort of like Donald Trump. Here’s the thing: Oliver’s program, which is popular in his native Britain, didn’t air in its normal time slot this week. So most Brits who voted to exit the EU yesterday hadn’t seen it.
The normal time for Oliver’s show on the Sky Atlantic network is Monday after Game of Thrones. But Sky, citing rules on the media restrictions when it comes elections and referendums, delayed showing Oliver’s rancorous takedown of Brexit this week. Oliver said Britain would be “absolutely crazy” to leave the EU, but most Brits didn’t hear that opinion until after the vote. In fact, many believe the airing of Oliver’s program on Thursday night, after the Brexit vote, is what led Brits to “frantically Google” the EU after the vote was over. Could Oliver’s rant, if seen, have made a difference? We’ll never know.
