Bill Maher Says Millennials Need to Save the Economy From Coronavirus – Even at Grandparents’ Expense (Video)

“I’m not asking you to storm the beaches at Normandy. Just storm the beaches. And the stores,” the “Real Time” host says

Bill Maher is looking for a savior to give the economy a swift kick in the pants, and he thinks millennials are up for the challenge… even if it means putting vulnerable seniors at risk.

On this week’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” on HBO, the comedian saluted the tens of thousands of millennials who volunteered to be injected with the coronavirus to expedite a vaccine. “What a great way to fight that generation’s reputation for being safety-obsessed scaredy cats,” he joked, adding that their protesting in the streets in solidarity for Black Lives Matter is proof that they’ll turn out in force for an important cause.

“We need someone to lead us back to a life not dominated by fear, and millennials, you have just the immune systems to do it,” he said. “You know, the Greatest Generation wasn’t great before World War II. The war made them great because they rose to the challenge. This is your challenge. And I’m not asking you to storm the beaches at Normandy. Just storm the beaches. And the stores.”

Maher acknowledged that, yes, they can become infected with the virus and they should “wear the masks and do the precautions, but live.”

“This is your opportunity to conquer your big nemesis — anxiety — and show the world you’re not scaredy cats. And you shouldn’t be,” Maher said.

Although he said otherwise “invincible” millennials who are around senior citizens or who are not healthy should stay home, he agreed with remarks recently made by London journalist Janet Daley, who advised younger people to not give up freedoms and opportunities for others’ sake.

“I think she’s pretty right,” Maher said of Daley’s comments. “Millennials should say to the vulnerable, ‘We love you and we’ll help protect you, but this is our time. You had yours. This is our time to set up our lives, make our mark in the world, get our careers going. I got people to do and things to see and fun to have. And if this a 103-year-old lady from Boston can beat it, and this 103-year-old from Italy, and this 113-year-old from Spain, I’ll take the odds. I’m here, no fear, get used to it.”

He went on: “Safety is a virtue, but if it was the only one, nothing would ever get done. When JFK ran for president in 1960, his slogan was ‘Let’s get the country moving again.’ No one knew what it meant, but he was young and cool so we were like, ‘F— yeah, let’s go to the moon! Let’s get the country moving again!’”

Watch Maher’s “New Rules” segment in the clip at the top.

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