Bill Maher worries that the assassinations of Charlie Kirk and United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson could inspire copycat killers.
While talking with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan on his Club Random podcast, Maher expressed concern that rather than both sides decrying the attacks there is a worry that past political violence could inspire individuals in the future.
“At the State of the Union, Biden’s last one, he said political violence has no place in our society. Something like that,” Maher said. “And the Democrats all stood and clapped, and the Republicans sat there. And it’s like, really? You can’t applaud for that, you f–king a–holes? Again, unless we start with both sides – the Luigi Mangiones, which is like, you know, I hope this isn’t becoming like a copycat thing, like, oh, this is a cool.”
Corgan agreed that both political sides needed to come together rather than pointing fingers and blame.
“That’s why I think we need to say – culturally, societally, left, right, American, don’t care, ambivalent – political violence has to be off the table,” he said. “It cannot be an instrument to achieve a goal. It just can’t. It can’t be rationalized. It can’t be asterisked. It just can’t.”
Other political commentators are over the “both sides” arguments that have been levied since Kirk’s assassination last week at the hands of alleged shooter Tyler Robinson, who was formally charged Tuesday. Greg Gutfeld went off on Jessica Tarlov on the topic during “The Five” on Fox News earlier this week.
“We don’t need more information,” the Fox News star said. “What is interesting here is why is only this happening on the left and not the right? That’s all we need to know.”
He finished: “The fact of the matter is the both sides argument not only doesn’t fly, we don’t care. We don’t care about your both sides argument. That s–t is dead.”
Watch the full Club Random podcast clip above.
