Maher to MSNBC: Why Are You Covering Trump’s ‘Brain Farts’ ‘Like He’s Churchill’?

HBO’s “Real Time” host Bill Maher asked why MSNBC would cover GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s speeches “like he’s Churchill” when they’re “brain farts” on Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

Maher did offer some praise of Trump saying that his refusal to apologize is “the best part of him,” “I do find that attractive, because I’ve been in that position myself many times. I mean, I don’t agree with much of what Donald Trump says, but sometimes, when I see him, I think he and I are a little like the detective and the serial killer, when the serial killer says, ‘You know, we’re not so different, you and I.’ And the great thing about having your own money, is that you don’t have to appeal to the donors. The one good thing Donald Trump is saying is that he’s going to raise his own taxes, and he’s going to go after hedge fund managers and stuff like that. That’s actually popular, even with Republicans. It’s the donor class that hates that. that’s why you won’t hear that from the other guys.”

He added, after host Chris Matthews asked him about Trump’s crowds, “we have to look a little bit in the mirror on this one, Chris. Your network covered it, from beginning end to last night. Why? Why? Why are you doing that? It’s a little bit of a self-fulfilling –.” Matthews then cut in, “well, the same reason people went out to see him, knowing he’d be on TV. So, they even go see him knowing he’s on TV, they still make the effort to go see him.”

Maher responded, “But why cover it like he’s Churchill giving an important speech? I mean, have you listened to these speeches? Trump is always saying other countries are laughing at us. This is why they’re laughing at us, because of what he says, and how we are taking it seriously. I mean, he talks about how we shouldn’t have teleprompters. Please, let’s bring back teleprompters, because these are just the brain farts, the stream of conscious ramblings of a guy who obviously has, over the course of his life, breathed in too much construction debris. It just goes from one bragging point to something else he thought of on the spur of moment. It’s not even a speech. And yet people — I think, what they’re responding to, is this message that the country has been losing, which is insane, because we’re not losing, we’re winning. And we have to restore America to what? What it was before Obama came along? So, we should be restoring America back to where we had 10% unemployment, and the stock market was 1,000 points lower? Who is beating us? China? They’re beating us? Why? Because their kids make our iPhones? Japan? They’ve been in a recession for like three decades. Mexico? I mean, this is insane. We’re the only country that did well after the financial collapse.”

Matthews stated, “All that may be true, and I think it is,” but that the reason why Trump is covered on MSNBC and most networks is because “we’re waiting to see how long it’s going to last. … How long can he keep going with new material every minute? Certainly he’s run out of material and start repeating himself. He’ll begin to sweat. I’m waiting for that. I think that is the show we’re watching. How long can he do this thing?”

Maher answered, “Well, I think he can do it forever. Because I think this is what he’s been doing his whole life. I don’t think his speeches are any different than what he probably does every day before he ran for president. He probably sits in a boardroom, with all his yes men, and eats his tuna fish sandwich, and starts rambling about whatever goes into his head. And by the way, he is already repeating his material. He’s got stuff he says in every speech. Like he’s going to raise taxes on the Ford Motor Company or whoever…moved their plant to Mexico, as if the president can unilaterally raise taxes. It is amazing how fact free that party is. And that is a big reason why he’s doing well. We have Jorge Ramos on Friday, you’ll be with him on the panel, and he said to Trump, that — when they had that dust-up in Iowa, that, why are you building a wall? Because 40% of the people who come here illegally from Mexico arrive by plane, and then they just stay, and Trump’s response was, ‘I don’t believe it.’ And this is the essential problem with this party. They don’t care about facts, and even when they’re presented with them, they don’t believe them. So, when Donald Trump says things like, we should repeal Obamacare and replace it with ‘something terrific.’ Ah, something terrific, why didn’t we think of that? You see, those Democrats, they didn’t think of something terrific.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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