WATCH: The Daily Show laments cable news' politicization of everything

(Image credit: Daily Show)

last updated 8 January 2015

On Monday's Daily Show, John Oliver took a swing at a familiar target: Dumb things people say on cable news.

Oliver started by pointing out how MSNBC and Fox News both used the birth of Britain's royal baby to score partisan talking points, saying this shouldn't be allowed before the person being used as a political football can even talk.

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Oliver went on to note how everything from sports to the wonders of nature are now mere setups for political trash-talking. Chris Hayes at MSNBC, for example, used a story about a horrible smelling corpse flower blooming to bash Michele Bachmann. "Leave it to cable news to take the smell of rotting flesh and somehow ruin it," Oliver groaned.

Earlier in the show, Oliver dissected the emerging (and growing) field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates, in a continuation of his "Can't You At Least Wait Until Jon Stewart Gets Back?" rant. This time, Oliver looked at the presidential aspirations of Canadian-born Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Donald Trump. The GOP field is like a "clown car," Oliver said. It looks like nobody else can possibly get out of the tiny car, but somehow there's always another Herman Cain in the back seat.

The only way the GOP can win back the White House, Oliver said, is by unleashing a "Sharknado of voter suppression." He points to Texas, Florida, and North Carolina as prime examples where Republicans are doing their best to make it hard for minority voters to cast their ballots. His best line was about North Carolina's state Senate tacking abortion restrictions onto a bill banning sharia law. Watch:

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.