John Oliver Slams 'Racist' Arizona Senate Candidate Blake Masters

John Oliver tackled the Arizona midterm elections on Sunday night, going after Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Blake Masters.

"If you think his name alone makes him sound like a third-tier Bond villain, wait until you hear about his everything else, because Masters is a Peter Thiel-backed self-described 'conservative nationalist,' and since Trump's endorsement things have started to surface about him," said Oliver.

Oliver then cited Masters' appearance on "The Jeff Oravtis Show" podcast in April, where Masters said, "We do have a gun violence problem in this country, and it's gang violence. Right? It's gangs, it's people in Chicago, St. Louis, shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly."

In response, Oliver said, "Blaming Black people for gun violence in America is outrageously, uncreatively racist, but also it's unsurprising from someone who — and this is true — was called an 'immigration patriot' by the white nationalist website VDARE, which praised him, saying he 'checks all the right boxes.' He's an immigration patriot who checks all the white-supremacist boxes just isn't what you want to hear about a man running for office."

Oliver continued, telling viewers that Masters supports a national abortion ban and has questioned whether the FBI set up January 6. Then, Oliver played a clip of Masters on the podcast "Subversive with Alex Kaschuta" being asked, "Who is a subversive thinker who's underrated?"

Masters answered, "I'll probably get in trouble for saying this. I'd say… how about Theodore Kaczynski? Probably not great to be talking about the Unabomber while campaigning."

"Yeah… probably not!” said Oliver. "Also, I'm sorry, Theodore Kaczynski? What are you? His mom while he's in trouble? 'Theodore John Kaczynski, have you been sending mail bombs to airlines and universities around the country from a remote cabin in the Montana wilderness? You are so grounded, mister! Naughty Theodore!'"

Last Week Tonight airs Sundays at 11:00 PM ET on HBO. The late night show is also available to stream on HBO Max.

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Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.