On John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight show this past Sunday (Oct. 11), the comedian blasted Toyota and its vehicles for being used by ISIS as “instruments of death.”
“Toyota is famous for making dependable vehicles but this week we learned something surprising about who is depending on them,” said Oliver. He was referring to the Islamic State, which has prominently featured Toyota trucks and SUVs in its propaganda videos.
The Japanese auto maker—the second largest in the world—was put on the spot last week when the US government asked why the terrorist group had so many Toyota vehicles, ABC News first reported.
The company claimed to be “baffled” as to how this could have happened, Oliver said.
And yet, he also pointed out that this isn’t the first time Toyota trucks and SUVs have been co-opted by terrorists. As Quartz reported earlier, the vehicles have been favorites of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Syrian rebels, and fighters in the Chad-Libya conflict. Oliver also called attention to the brand’s unfortunately-named Isis minivan.
Toyota told ABC News that it’s not aware of any dealerships that have broken its company policy not to sell to terrorist groups.
But Oliver wasn’t convinced. “At this rate,” he joked, “we are just a few months away from ISIS-owned Toyota dealerships.”