Watch: John Oliver is funny, as usual, but his message for the French elections is serious

With the US and the UK joining Russia as countries with leadership and policies well to the Right of Centre, that leaves France. A country about which talk show host John Oliver says in a recent episode of Last Week Tonight: “The fate of Europe rests in the hands of a country that looks at snails and says, ‘I have got to get you in my mouth’”

“Britain and America f***ed up. Don’t f**k up too,” John Oliver tells (French) viewers, as he profiles all the key players in the French presidential election. Surprisingly, or not, Oliver’s introduction to the French elections, the first round of voting for which takes place on Sunday, April 23, is one of the most cogent presentations on the subject. Despite his exhortations on which way to vote.

“We made populist nativist choices with Brexit and Trump, and to be honest, it’s not working out so great for us so far,” Oliver says towards the end. “And now you have a populist nativist choice of your own. And just imagine how superior you can feel if you don’t make the same mistake that we did.”

This leads to a black-and-white segment, a la new wave French cinema, at a “cosy bistro” where “an accordion plays and we can smoke into each other faces”. In French, Oliver asks voters to make the right choice. “Help up, France, you’re our last hope.”