John Oliver tackled Puerto Rico’s financial crisis on last night’s Last Week Tonight, breaking down the complicated history of tax loopholes and legal provisions that have led to the island’s devastating $70 billion debt and 45 percent poverty rate. Oliver’s explanation is equal parts enlightening and entertaining, as usual, but in case that wasn’t enough to get viewers to interested in the U.S. territory’s dire financial situation, he brought in reinforcements: specifically, Hamilton creator/star and recent Pulitzer winner Lin-Manuel Miranda.
If anyone can make Americans care about Puerto Rico, it’s Miranda—not only is he no stranger to making otherwise-tedious financial matters seem electrifying, he’s the son of Puerto Rican parents and has been an outspoken advocate for the island. In an op-ed for The New York Times in March, Miranda called on Congress to allow the U.S. territory to restructure its debt, an appeal he repeats in last night’s moving performance, rapping about the devastation that “the commonwealth with not a lot of wealth” is facing and offering to do whatever it takes to help, even if that means personally singing Hamilton for House Speaker Paul Ryan.
