On Friday night, one week after mocking accused pro-Trump mail bomber Cesar Sayoc for including him on a list of left-wing targets, comedian Bill Maher kicked off Real Time by addressing the midterm elections, wherein the Democrats flipped the House and Republicans retained control of the Senate.
“The election went well, but it wasn’t everything we really hoped,” said Maher. “It was red wine, but from Trader Joe’s; a new car, but a Buick; the chicken dish at a nice restaurant; a handjob. Just not everything we were hoping for.”
“The reason why I’m not terribly optimistic is because we have a new attorney general,” the HBO host continued. “Have you seen this guy? It’s the guy who snapped in Full Metal Jacket…I call him ‘Curly,’ because he’s the bald stooge.”
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Maher was of course referring to Matthew Whitaker, the acting attorney general following the forced resignation of Jeff Sessions—who had recused himself from Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, much to President Trump’s chagrin.
“This guy, Matthew Whitaker, the new attorney general, boy, does he love him some Donald Trump,” said Maher. “Everything that Whitaker has said or written just amplifies Trump’s unhinged narratives. He wrote an op-ed which said that the Mueller investigation goes too far, he wants to indict Hillary Clinton. He’s so far up Trump’s ass, Hannity had to scoot over.”
Indeed, as The Daily Beast reported, Whitaker—a right-wing media darling—even claimed that there was “no collusion” between the Trump campaign and Russia, despite the fact that the Justice Department investigation into it isn’t even over yet.
If that weren’t enough, Whitaker also aligned himself with a “scam” business that defrauded customers, and led a secretive anti-Democrat group. Some Senate Dems are even considering suing Trump over the Whitaker appointment.
“Trump lives in this opposite world,” Maher argued. “He puts criminals in charge of the Justice Department. Facts are lies. He’s awake when he should be asleep. He talks out of his ass, but shit comes out of his mouth.”
“Trump says he doesn’t know Matthew Whitaker. We know Matthew Whitaker’s been to the Oval Office many times!” added Maher. “We have a tape of Trump, just from October, saying, ‘Whitaker’s a great guy! I mean, I know Matthew Whitaker.’”
But the political satirist didn’t place all the blame on the Trump administration, also targeting the GOP for their complicity.
“And Republicans? They don’t care anymore,” said Maher. “There’s no such thing anymore as how it looks. This election, they elected two indicted criminals and a dead pimp. I’m not making this up.”
Later on in the program, during an interview with legendary journalist Bob Woodward, author of the bestselling tome Fear: Trump in the White House, Maher called the Whitaker appointment “a red line.”
“To me, this Whitaker guy, that’s a red line,” he said. “When you start putting the top cop in the country as just a stooge, just the guy who’s there to do the bidding of the Supreme Leader, that’s the slow-moving coup.”
