Bill Maher is having a bit of a difficult time grasping what the GOP is trying to accomplish these days, especially after the raucous display during the State of the Union address that had many on the right shouting from the chamber as if on a rowdy talk show.
“The Republicans have made this the ‘Maury Povich Show.’ You guys want to make this a heckle battle? They brought it on and [Biden] won. He won the ad lib battle, which tells me he’s not senile. Right?” Maher said on Friday’s “Real Time.”
For those who weren’t watching Tuesday’s SOTU, President Biden said, “Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage — I get it — unless I agree to their economic plans. All of you at home should know what those plans are: instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset.”
The shouting of disapproval from the right-leaning members of the Congress began echoing from the House floor.
“The state of our union is uncivil, that’s what it is,” Maher said during his opening monologue. “Republicans, you know, Biden’s trying to make a speech. They act like it’s a bachelorette party at a comedy club. Marjorie Taylor Greene screaming and shouting and yelling and heckling and booing. It’s the State of the Union, not ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’”
The following morning, “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy told House speaker Kevin McCarthy that independent voters were turned off by the heckling and it could have worked against them. McCarthy responded by saying that those who heckled – including Marjorie Taylor Greene – were just “passionate,” but should be smarter and not “take the bait” from Biden.
That said, Maher insists the GOP has other issues to iron out, like the bruhaha that will ensue if Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis go head-to-head in pursuit of the Republican nomination. Maher thinks that since DeSantis is only 46, he should sit this one out and run in 2028 instead.
“If DeSantis got in against Trump, Trump will do to him what he does with everybody — he’ll just bloody him. It’ll be a battle in the mud. And all DeSantis has to do is wait and he can be president,” Maher suggested. “I normally would say the opposite — get in early before they pick you apart. But in this case, with Trump, it changes everything. Trump is already attacking him.”
Watch the full “Real Time” monologue in the video below.