John Oliver isn't buying that Trump's terrible last week was a turning point

John Oliver began Sunday's Last Week Tonight with a sometimes NSFW farewell to Stephen Bannon, the White House chief strategist shown the door on Friday. Oliver's audience cheered when he showed a photo of President Trump's core team, whittled down from six people to just two. Trump "is surrounded by four white nothings and Mike Pence — so, let's make that five white nothings," he said. "But the truly depressing thing about Bannon's departure is just how utterly unsatisfying it actually is. Because yes, one panderer to white nationalists has left the White House. The problem is, the one he was working for is still very much there."

Oliver ended up at the same conclusion when he took a look at Trump's very bad week, especially his perceived legitimizing of white supremacists at a news conference on Tuesday. Lots of people condemned Trump from unusual corners, he said, though Trump still had his tearful defenders on Fox News, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shot down rumors that he was very disappointed with Trump, and House Speaker Paul Ryan condemned white supremacists without mentioning Trump by name.

"You can mention him," Oliver said. "He is not Voldemort, he's just a terrifying entity who viciously attacks his enemies and judges people based on their birthright — you know what? I do hear it now. I hear it now." The fact is, fewer than 20 percent of the 292 Republicans in Congress "could be bothered to unequivocally condemn Trump by name," he said, and that's a problem because Trump is "a key part of the problem."

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"So look, although this week has repeatedly been called a turning point, much as though I would love to believe that, I really don't see it," Oliver concluded. "We're not so much turning anymore as spinning. We are basically on a carousel that will not stop, we've vomited so much there's nothing left to throw up, and there's just no way to get off because an unstable, race-baiting carney is operating the controls." Nothing will change until one last person leaves the West Wing, he added, and Trump isn't going anywhere. There is some NSFW language. Watch below. Peter Weber