John Oliver hits out at Donald Trump’s “cash-grab” merch sales

John Oliver has hit out at Donald Trump for a series of merchandise sales that he has described as “cash grabs”.

In a segment on his show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on HBO, Oliver took aim at the former President for his sale of a range of items, including Bibles and mugshot t-shirts, in order to help with his list of legal bills.

Oliver mentioned in particular a mini speaker which bears Trump’s likeness, and which he quipped “I assume is way too loud and never dies”, as well as a gold earbuds case.

“You know how you can never tell which Airpods are yours and which are your friends’, because all the cases look the same?” he asked. “Well, if you get these, you lose all your friends instantly – problem solved.”

Oliver outlined the legal battles that Trump is fighting, saying: “Between the E. Jean Carroll defamation judgment and New York State’s fraud case, he’s on the hook for over half a billion dollars, but even that doesn’t capture the full extent of the financial damage.”

“Apparently since leaving office, he spent more than $100 million on legal bills alone, which averages more than $90,000 a day, none of it paid for with his own money,” Oliver added.

“In fact, a lot has come from his supporters because he’s repeatedly used his legal troubles as a pretext to ask for donations, including this plea on Tuesday.”

Oliver showed a plea video from Trump to his supporters asking for cash donations.

“That is a man who talks nonstop about how he’s one of the richest men on Earth, begging strangers for money in a hostage video that looks like it was filmed in a house haunted by the world’s tackiest ghosts.”

The comedian went on to suggest that donations from supporters will not be able to cover the full extent of Trump’s legal bills, but pointed out that the initial public offering of Trump’s social media platform Truth Social.

Since starting to be traded last week, Truth Social’s stock has surged and has a current market capitalisation of approximately $ billion (£6.4billion) (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Earlier this year, Oliver turned his fire on Elon Musk, accusing him of having “thin skin” after the businessman lashed out when the comedian made fun of him on his show.

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