On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that he liked that President Joe Biden gave the primetime speech he gave, but because people don’t get nuance, he’d be better off if he critiqued the fringe on the left on indoctrinating kids in school and crime, “and then he could not have to run again.”
Maher said, “That he did it, I liked. The way he did it, not good. … I don’t think people saw the speech, the networks didn’t carry it. His big mistake was — well, two mistakes: One, thinking that Americans can appreciate nuance. He wanted to separate Republicans from MAGA Republicans. And let me give you the four criteria he said are a MAGA Republican: you reject the election results, support the candidates who reject election results — of which there are many on the ballot this November — approve of the January 6 rioters, support the political use of violence. That’s who he was talking to. No one heard this. They didn’t watch the speech. All they heard was, he attacked us, he attacked our side. That’s where his big mistake was. People are not good enough to appreciate nuance in this country. They didn’t hear this. If he had made a speech that critiqued the fringe of both sides, I think he would be in such a winning place right now.”
He added, “Yes, there would be some false equivalencies, but if he had made a speech to that middle of the country guy…[who] comes up to me and says, thank you for talking sense, I just want some centrist stuff that isn’t nonsense, if he had called out the people he did call out, the MAGA side. But then said, and the left, my party, has a lot of crazy shit that’s going on. And if he had said that, we don’t want — people who don’t want fascism and don’t want to lose the right to an abortion and also don’t want their children indoctrinated when they go to school, and called out some of that, I think it would’ve been such a big moment for the country.”
Maher further stated, “Republicans are more dangerous, but, again, do you want to win or do you want to win points? … Democrats have to own all the other crazy shit, where a bodega guy gets attacked and then he’s brought up on charges because he fought back, go to war on that. This bakery…that I saw won a big suit this week because they were accused of racism and they won…$[37] million from Oberlin College, just pick out something. There’s something every day that Biden could’ve picked out and said, and my side has gone too far on this. And yes, it wouldn’t be equivalent, but the country could then — the people in the middle and the people who don’t want to feel like you’re just attacking my team would be like, yes, finally, and then he could not have to run again.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.