It’s OK because the host is British. CNN gets a nice jab too.
As the world kept its excited eyes on London in gleeful anticipation of the birth of the future King, British transplant John Oliver gleefully centered his old haunts in the crosshairs of The Daily Show.
The England-native, subbing this summer for Jon Stewart as host of the Comedy Central news broadcast, was ready with a bit of hysteria when news that William and Kate's little boy was born, and was delighted to cut into some of the more absurd elements of CNN's coverage of the royal birth. In fact, he predicted two months ago that mocking the Worldwide Leader in News would be a big part of his coverage.
"Well you know CNN in particular is going to go batshit crazy when that baby is born, because that is their sweet spot," he told BuzzFeed back in May. "They are never more successful than when examining the pointless, whether that is the Jodi Arias trial or royal babies. That is, for some reason, that is when they really come into their own, when they are reporting on nothing. It becomes like a philosophical news network, it's like, 'What happens when you examine nothing?' Maybe in moments of frustration with CNN, we should just see it as a performance art piece, looking at the concept of what something is."
As for why Americans were so excited about the future king of the monarchy from which it excised itself nearly 250 years ago, Oliver had little insight — though he still found it quite funny.
"I don't know. I think people talk a big game; it's even more so in Canada," he said. "Canada is still technically a member of the Commonwealth, and you see them saying, 'Oh, the Royal Family are ridiculous, it's crazy that Canada has to ask the Queen's permission to appoint a new Prime Minister.' And then the moment they step foot, they've all got their little flags, waving them around saying, 'Your Majesty, please come over here!'
"I think they have a kind of weird Jedi Mind Trick when you actually meet them, that they've developed over centuries over breeding," he added. "They've just learned something from their strategic marriages and inbreeding over centuries that mean they have certain skills in terms of manipulating the human soul."
