Maher: Media Fell For ‘Widow In the Gallery Trick’ – It Was ‘The Worst Moment’ From Trump

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher criticized the media for falling for “this widow in the gallery trick” in their coverage of President Trump’s speech before Congress.

Maher began by stating, “I certainly feel for that poor woman.” He added, that the media “fell hard for this widow in the gallery trick.” Maher further characterized it as “the worst moment” from Trump. Maher continued, “[H]e gets this guy killed, ordering a raid over dinner, between the entree, — between the appetizer and the entree, right? It was at dinner that he decided to do this, and we heard it was because Obama wouldn’t do it, so he was like, Obama’s a p*ssy. I’m going to do it. Okay, the father-in-law, — the soldier’s father, he came out and said, ‘Why at this time did [there have to be] this stupid mission? When it wasn’t even barely a week into his administration? Why? … [A]ll of a sudden we had to make this grand display?’ That sounds right to me.”

Radio host and Right Wisconsin Editor Charlie Sykes stated that in the moment, “I was moved by it, because she was real. … and I woke up the next morning thinking, okay, this was a great moment, but then realizing the incredible cynicism of that.” Both Maher and MSNBC host Joy Reid agreed with this point.

Reid added, “[T]he thing for me that made it for me so cynical, even in the moment, quite frankly, is that less than 24 hours before that, the commander-in-chief of the United States had blamed his generals, said they lost this Navy SEAL. … Never in the history, that I can think of in this country, had a commander-in-chief blamed the generals. How cynical was that? And then to use the applause was for 2 minutes, and so the applause makes him –. He praised the applause.”

Sykes also argued, “And then he turns it into a reality tv show by saying, you just set a record for applause. … How deeply crass is that?”

Maher then asked, “What do you think the Republicans would’ve said if Obama had done that after Benghazi?”

Reid agreed, and also wondered, “where are the investigations?”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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