With the November 3 midterm elections days away, John Oliver used his Sunday night broadcast to examine the Republican Party's ties to white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
John Oliver Warns of Rising Extremism on the Ballot
Returning to the desk after a two-week absence, the host opened his broadcast by sounding an alarm on a worrying trend that’s been on the rise
within the GOP.
The broadcast zeroed in on candidates and figures whose public associations lean into neo-Nazi rhetoric.
Among the candidates highlighted was Peter Oberacker, a Republican candidate for New York’s 19th congressional district. Back in November 2015, Oberacker posted a photo to Facebook on Veterans Day memorializing his late grandfather in a full Wehrmacht uniform who died fighting for Nazi Germany.
Oberacker later defended the post by stating it was the only photograph he possessed of his relative.
If that is the only picture that you have, maybe consider having no pictures of him! You can sit Veterans Day out. No one will think that’s weird.
John Oliver, Host of Last Week Tonight
The segment also pointed to federal and state candidates across the country, including Marshall Rawson, a candidate for Florida House District 10 who previously marched alongside neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, and Bo French, a candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner who faced criticism for racist social media posts targeting racially diverse college football fans.
Trump Nominee and Elon Musk Face Nazi Scrutiny
A former Trump nominee admitted to having a Nazi streak in me from time to time.
Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners. It’s everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine. pic.twitter.com/Fz6t0tojdg
Political figures have largely deflected or defended such behavior. J.D. Vance dismissed controversial remarks from Young Republican group chats filled with racial slurs and Hitler praise as merely kids do stupid things,
despite the participants being fully grown adults in their 20s and 30s.
Elon Musk, identified as the single biggest campaign spender in the cycle, was rebuked for delivering what appeared to be a Nazi salute to supporters at a rally in 2025.
Conservative Figures Platform White Nationalist Nick Fuentes
The broadcast turned its attention to podcaster Tucker Carlson and conservative institutions that have offered a megaphone to figures like white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Carlson hosted Fuentes at his podcast cabin lair.
Kevin Roberts, head of the Heritage Foundation, defended Carlson for platforming Fuentes by claiming he is more of a sports guy than a news guy and that he didn’t know Fuentes’ Nazi bent.
GOP Congressman Paul Gosar delivered the keynote speech at Fuentes’s America First Political Action Conference in 2021, and Marjorie Taylor Greene did the same the following year. Donald Trump also hosted Fuentes for a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022, after the podcaster arrived alongside Kanye West.
GOP Figures Warn Against Bigots Infiltrating the Party
The program cited a Manhattan Institute analysis of the GOP.
Karl Rove publicly lamented at the Texas Tribune Festival that the party was being infiltrated by bigots, specifically pointing to candidates like Bo French. Sen. Lindsey Graham told the Republican Jewish Coalition in November 2025 that he belonged firmly in the Hitler-sucks wing of the Republican Party.
John Oliver: “It does feel that the Republican Party has been getting way too comfortable with some, at best, N*zi-adjacent sh*t.” https://t.co/6jEqyahJML pic.twitter.com/sGkwsXK7hV
Voters head to the polls on November 3.