HBO host Bill Maher expressed his fear that President Donald Trump and Republicans will do anything to cheat and win in 2020, saying he's glad Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has "badass" supporters willing to fight fire with fire.
Friday night's Real Time With Bill Maher opened with a monologue in which the comedian host said he witnessed the death of democracy after the Senate voted 51-49 not to hear witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial. Maher reiterated his frequent complaint that the Democratic Party doesn't play hardball politics like Republicans do through shady tactics like voter suppression and accepting help from Russian hackers. Maher said Sanders' candidacy is thriving because the progressive senator is the only Democratic candidate with an "army" that can match Trump's MAGA supporters.
"I don't know if voting matters, I don't trust the returns with Russia hacking and all that. I have to say it affects how I might vote, I've been going back and forth about this -- Do we want the progressive?" Maher asked Friday.
"I like Bernie and Elizabeth Warren. But I feel like, and I have said, someone like Mayor Pete or Amy Klobuchar could win more easily. But I tell you why Bernie Sanders is attractive to me now: because he's the only Democrat, who like Trump, has an army. Who when it gets to this other level, he's got a bunch of badass motherf***ers who will get in the streets," Maher said.
"You haven't met suburban women in my district," quipped panel member and New Jersey Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, whose 11th District Trump carried in the 2016 presidential election. "The suburban women are ready."
"Are they packing?" Maher asked, a reference to carrying firearms. "Because Trump's people are."
Maher and his guest, Republican strategist Rick Wilson, both criticized Warren and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for failing to appeal to average Americans: "Don't run on boutique issues in a Walmart nation," Wilson warned. Maher questioned "why did Bernie outlast Warren?" as he noted that Sanders was supposed to be "old news" following the 2016 primaries and is now the front-runner in several national polls.
"Bernie's always the same guy. Elizabeth Warren, who I've always liked, but she kind of did some stuff I didn't like," Maher said, noting Warren's recent comments that she would have a transgender high school student vet her secretary of education if she gets elected.
"Obama said people just don't want crazy stuff, is this not crazy stuff? Is she running for president of Berkeley?" Maher asked incredulously. Maher also led the panel in mocking billionaire candidate Michael Bloomberg's decision to run an $11 million anti-gun ad during the Super Bowl. "Oh the Super Bowl, that's a good demo," Wilson joked.
"A bunch of wings-eating, beer-drinking guys and you're going out there and say, 'let me introduce myself, I want to take away your guns right after the truck commercial.'"
Maher said that the "Bernie bros" and passionate supporters behind the Vermont senator are a solid rebuttal to Trump's claim of being backed by the "the rough people: police, the military and the bikers."
