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Louise Thomas
Editor
John Oliver has mocked Donald Trump over his response to the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
The ceremony caused controversy after one sketch was widely interpreted to be a parody of Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous The Last Supper painting – a detail denied behind the event organiser.
Paris 2024 artistic director Thomas Jolly, who has since received death threats, said the sketch was instead meant to depict a pagan feast linked to the gods of Olympus and celebrate diversity, feasting and French gastronomy.
Despite this, the performance that featured drag queens, a transgender model, a naked singer posing as the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and a child, led to criticism from the Catholic Church, with the Vatican saying it was “saddened” by the inclusion.
Another prominent figure weighing in on the controversy was Trump, who told Fox News: “I’m very open-minded, but I thought what they did was a disgrace. I mean, they can do certain things. I thought it was terrible.”
Late night host Oliver addressed Trump’s reaction to the “parody” on the latest episode of Last Week Tonight, which aired on Sunday (4 August).
He said: “It’s always strange to watch Trump act like he cares about religions. Because to echo something I heard someone say recently, I didn’t know he was a Christian until a number of years ago when he happened to turn Christian.
“All of a sudden, he made a turn and became a Christian person.”
Paris prosecutors are currently investigating hate speech that Jolly has received online. The Paris prosecutors’ office said in a statement that he had filed a police complaint last week – four days after the opening ceremony – for death threats, “public insults” and “defamation.”
Earlier this year, Trump was lampooned on Saturday Night Live for his attempts to sell bibles.
Trump released an infomercial in which, ahead of Easter Sunday, he endorsed a “God Bless The USA” Bible.
The Republican presidential candidate wrote on Truth Social: “Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless The USA Bible,” and went onto share posts that compared him to Jesus.
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