John Oliver Derides Trump’s Freedom 250 & Its Performer Cancellations

Back after a brief holiday hiatus last week, John Oliver returned to his desk to roast the botched rollout of Donald Trump‘s Freedom 250 celebration, which has seen myriad cancellations since various scheduled performers like Martina McBride, Bret Michaels, Morris Day, Young MC and The Commodores dropped out after discovering the fete was not apolitical in nature.

“It is a stacked lineup of people that you haven’t thought about since 2009,” the comic and late-night host quipped. “Honestly, that sounds less like America’s 250th birthday and more like the playlist at Rhonda’s 50th. The only surprising thing about that lineup is that there are special appearances from the ShamWow Guy and the Gushers kid whose head turned into a raspberry.”

The Great American State Fair is a 16-day event taking place on the National Mall from June 25-July 10 in celebration of the country’s semiquincentennial. Following the exits of a handful of acts, Trump took to social media to rant about “overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” suggesting he would “cancel” the event and plan a MAGA rally instead.

Oliver sarcastically noted that not all was lost due to the cancellations, as the White House celebration will still feature a 110-foot ferris wheel and “special screenings” of National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” thus “bringing a real ‘substitute teacher who doesn’t give a fuck’ energy to the proceedings.”

“At this point, given how everything’s been going, I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if tomorrow we got a press release reading: ‘Due to divisive politics I will no longer be attending the 250th celebration’ from the fucking ferris wheel,” he said.