“Lots of crazy people on the left”
Bill Maher scolded an MSNBC host who claimed that Trump supporters were at odds with “reality” and retorted, “There are a lot of crazy people on the left, too.”
The liberal comedian was a guest on MSNBC’s “The Beat With Ari Melber” on Wednesday as Melber commented on the differing reactions between Trump’s base and “normal, realistic” people to the election interference hearings against Donald Trump in Georgia.
Maher defended himself against Melber’s swipe at the former president’s supporters.
“I have to stop you and say: I don’t think that’s helping, the media world that we live in, where we sit here and everyone else is just an unfortunate who – reality is being questioned,” he replied.
The liberal host defended himself, saying he wasn’t calling anyone “deplorable” but arguing there was a difference between those who were “against sedition” and those who weren’t.
Maher agreed with Melber on this point and reiterated his belief that the liberal media has made no effort to understand the other side.
“They (Trump supporters) see him as the only thing standing between them and something even crazier. And there are a lot of crazy people on the left,” he replied.
Maher urged MSNBC viewers to “understand” why half the country still supports the former president.
“I think it would be helpful if the people who see this saw that. Just open a window a little and you might understand why people would do that – you have to try to understand why half the country sees Donald Trump as some kind of savior. Yes, that’s not what we think, but you know, people in this country don’t deport themselves. Half the country won’t disappear. Even if the Democrats win next time, they will still be here and still hold these views. And some of them aren’t crazy,” he argued.
Maher continued to criticize Trump supporters for playing up the Hunter Biden scandal in light of the charges against Trump.
“I don’t understand how they can equate this equivalence between Trump and Biden,” Maher noted.
“Does the Hunter Biden scandal stink? It really does. Stinks to high heaven. I mean, this is real corruption that a lot of left-wing media doesn’t report on. But it’s nothing compared to what Trump did. I mean, there’s just no equivalence,” he argued.
Separately, he argued that the media should not “cover up” what President Biden’s son is accused of.
“If Don Jr. had done the things Hunter Biden did, he would do it [covered in the media] daily. What if they found cocaine in the White House? Who could it belong to? Who is using cocaine here? “We can’t figure it out?” he joked.
On “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Saturday, the comedian argued with Rogan about who was “worse”: President Biden or Trump.
While Maher admitted he was not a fan of Biden’s commitment to fringe left-wing politics, he said the two cannot be compared because Trump is a “crazy, stupid criminal.”
Maher has often criticized the far left as opposed to classical liberalism. In the podcast appearance, he also criticized progressives as supporters of the Ku Klux Klan because they were fixated on race.
“They believe that race is first and foremost what you should see at all times, everywhere, which I find interesting because that used to be the position of the Ku Klux Klan,” Maher told Rogan, referring to the hate group of white supremacists.
“Again, you can take that position, but don’t say it’s a liberal position. You’re doing something completely different.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
