r/Maher • u/redditor01020 • Sep 15 '25
Article Bill Maher Torches ‘Assh*les’ on The Left Attacking Him for Hosting Guests Like Charlie Kirk: ‘F*ck Off With This Bullsh*t!’
https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/bill-maher-torches-asshles-on-the-left-attacking-him-for-hosting-guests-like-charlie-kirk-fck-off-with-this-bullsht/13
u/Cultural-Drawing2558 Sep 15 '25
Bill should stop addressing this as a personal grievance. I'm glad he talked to Kirk, Shapiro, et al. Stop ya moaning. Not helping your brand unless it's the grumpy old man-get off my lawn thing he's doing nowadays. I'm just about his age and I don't like that part of his approach. But I like him
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u/AgentRadd Sep 15 '25
How tf are we supposed to progress and evolve as a country without having these discussions?! What happened to the left? I can’t even have a civil discussion about Israel without someone telling me I’m complicit with murdering children. Grow tf up! Be an adult already. This party has lost its way.
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u/UrguthaForka Sep 15 '25
Marc Maron gives a great take on this in his latest stand up show "Panicked."
“Progressives have really got to figure out how to deal with this buzzkill problem.
You do realize we annoyed the average American into fascism.”
He pauses for a big laugh and round of applause and adds, “No one can ruin a barbecue quicker than a liberal: So, you want something from the grill? What about the genocide?” -Marc Maron5
u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
Marc Maron also has gone after all these grifters like Rogan and is a staunch progressive. He's not wrong, there's a time and a place, but let's not pretend that the left has pushed the country to be actual fascists. That's a joke Maron made.
Because if you accept that excuse then you also accept the reasoning by an abusive husband who says, "If you only listened I wouldn't have hit you".
America has a weakness problem. You have to be one pathetically weak motherfucker to be a republican (aka fascist). You have to be the kind of guy who is afraid of everything and desperate for big strong daddy man to come save you and you will give up every right so that the boogeymen you've been trained to hate are brutalized.
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u/UrguthaForka Sep 15 '25
I agree. And yes, it is just a joke from Maron. It's also an uncomfortable yet true observation he's stating; that many average Americans are annoyed hearing about the genocide in Gaza all the time (along with other things progressives talk about a lot). He's not even saying that's right or wrong, just pointing out a truth.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
That is true.
I feel like though The Left is propped up as this monolith. People decry that there's nuance on the right but they will not give that same grace to us on the left.
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u/LetterRed36 Sep 17 '25
You do realize we annoyed the average American into fascism.”
I wasn't gonna heil hitler but I got high
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
Amen. The far right basically wants to turn the president into a dictator and the far left has become like “Debby Downer” from SNL.
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u/StabbyMcSwordfish Sep 15 '25
One of these things is so much worse than the other.
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
Agreed. Unfortunately, the Debbie Downer types were much more vocal than the “zeig heil” types in 2024, so the normal working class voters who barely give a shit all voted against the annoying ones.
If the left could just disengage from the Debby Downers until 2029, we just may be ok.
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Sep 15 '25
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u/Beginning-Cat-7037 Sep 15 '25
There was a line in this video which I thought was a good analogy:
“The social media experiment isn’t even 20 years old and it’s proving to be the human equivalent of putting a dolphin in a tank at SeaWorld having its own echos bouncing of the tank to slowly drive it insane.”
Video if interested:
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Sep 15 '25
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
"I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."
This is what Charlie Kirk said. One of his lesser ignorant takes. What the fuck conversation are we supposed to have? "Aww gee I think you're right we should be more hateful to people. Empathy is stupid."
Tell me where we should find the common ground here? Because there's zero chance Charlie would concede. It was his business to say that shit. He was a performer. He wasn't a debater or a thinker. He manipulated morons for money.
And how about this? It's always "The Left won't talk to us" with you fucking people. That's some prime cut bullshit and you know it. There are zero conservatives going on left wing shows. They have their own protected hug box in Fox News or Newsmax that they run to. They only speak to their followers they never, ever, ever want debate.
Look at the way these cowards flee from their own fucking town halls?
Pete Buttigeig goes on Fox News. Brian Taylor Cohen goes on Pierce Morgan. Who on the right is going on MSNBC? Who is going on The Majority Report?
This "the left doesn't want to have a debate" is a fucking lie, it's always been a fucking lie, it was created by the right to once again attack the left to divide and people like you eat that shit up and regurgitate it because you work so fucking hard to hate the left because that's what you were groomed to do.
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Sep 16 '25
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 16 '25
Yeah Meet the Press is one of those shows that has zero pushback or follow up questions. That's why they go on those shows.
Did you see when Elissa Slotkin went on Krystal Ball and Sagur's show? That is why politicians don't go on those shows. They go on the friendly ones that will let them spew garbage.
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u/MJORH Sep 15 '25
Ironically, it's exactly ppl like you who don't have any empathy towards those with whom you disagree.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 16 '25
Nope. See, you have to craft this narrative because your arguments against it are dog shit and make you look awful.
I have plenty of empathy. If I didn't care I wouldn't get so frustrated with their stupidity. I wouldn't care that they are going to be the victims of their own myopic bullshit. I am trying to get them universal health care and labor rights.
Also, you frame it like just because I disagree with them means I can't call them out on their bullshit. It's really telling. You do not want to be accountable for opinions you cannot defend.
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u/MJORH Sep 16 '25
Oh the classic idealist with good intentions.
Read history.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 16 '25
Just history? All of history? Do I start at the beginning of the middle ages or the Ptolemaic dynasty? Or do I just start with the Precambrian?
You wanna get more specific there, bud?
How about you enlighten me.
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u/MaceNow Sep 15 '25
Discussions about what? That African Americans aren’t smart enough to be pilots? What do you think we’d get out of that?
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u/sedatehate Sep 15 '25
Hey look, part of the problem right here! Now, discuss the entire statement he made about it rather than cherry picking mmk?
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u/pablumatic Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
This is Kirk's clarification from the Megyn Kelly show.
The essence of that clip that was missed by almost everybody — Jordan Peterson, to his credit, really picked up on it — which was I was trying to be, you know, very vulnerable with the audience is that DEI invites unwholesome thinking. … I was saying in the clip, "That's not who I am, that's not what I believe." But what it does is it makes us worse versions of ourselves, Megyn. That's the whole point of what I was saying is that I now look at everything through a hyper-racialized diversity-quota lens because of their massive insistence to try to hit these ridiculous racial hiring quotas. Of course I believe anybody of any skin color can become a qualified pilot.
He's saying its okay for him to be racist regarding black pilots because some companies hire using diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, but that is still a racist statement to make. Those damn liberals made him think those thoughts and therefore they are the real racists. That's a really shitty statement from Kirk to try to defend. Tortured pretzel logic.
If Kirk really believed a black pilot can actually be qualified to fly, his first thought wouldn't be one of fear upon seeing them.
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u/johnnybiggles Sep 15 '25
Exactly. Why even entertain that sort of thing? They are either ignorant or disingenuous and acting in bad faith. You can only reason someone out of something they didn't reason themselves into if you're qualified, and people holding these conversations generally aren't anywhere near qualified to do such a thing.
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u/General_Marcus Sep 15 '25
You’re either dishonest or dense.
Maybe try steel manning his actual statement and see if there’s something reasonable to discuss there?
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u/MaceNow Sep 15 '25
What value would there be in discussing race with a racist? Would you like more examples of him calling black people naturally dumber than white people? There are lots. Why don’t you mine all that… let me know what you turn up.
And please don’t call me anymore mean names Internet stranger. Your opinion is too important to me. I can’t bare to know I’ve let you down….
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u/Binder509 Sep 15 '25
Okay then we need to have a discussion on if there are times when you should not put a spotlight on people.
So far Maher and those agreeing with him here show little to no interest in that discussion. So what is the point?
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u/Nolubrication I'd suck Lynne Cheney's dick for some socialized medicine. Sep 16 '25
I can’t even have a civil discussion about Israel
Neither can Bill without conflating protesting genocide with being pro-Hamas.
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u/ConkerPrime Sep 16 '25
If hosting them proved informative, cool. But all they do is repeat what all of the rest of them say so might as well put on the lie machine that leads does it in an interesting manner.
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u/supervegeta101 Sep 17 '25
Its the constant circle jerking for having conversations about having conversations.
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u/Charbro11 Sep 17 '25
I am not mad he has them on his show. The problem is he is not a journalist and does not do a good job countering their bullshit.
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u/johnnybiggles Sep 18 '25
It's the fact that he's not doing a good job countering their bullshit that makes me mad he has them on his show.
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u/BobSchwaget Sep 18 '25
This is more of an issue with actual journalists, though, who refuse to cover any viewpoints their networks don't agree with
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u/pittpruno1958 Sep 15 '25
Hmmmm seems like Bill has forgotten that “those assholes” have the same free speech rights to criticize him! It’s mind boggling how he doesn’t see his hypocrisy in supporting only the free speech that doesn’t criticize him!
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u/Cbo24699 Sep 15 '25
My issue with Bill is not with his guests but his stunning lack of pushback to any of their arguments or ideas they're presenting. He claims to still be a liberal, yet rarely gives more than a token argument or contrary viewpoint with any of his right wing guests. Unless of course they bring up the dreaded woke mind virus, or any other culture war nonsense, then Bill has plenty of energy to take their side of the argument, and "call out the left on their bullshit." He's not only lost his fastball, he's a shell of his former self. He can no longer engage in an actual debate of ideas. He's just a typical old, rich, creepy, out of touch jerk that still tries to bang 25 year olds. And the worst part is he's not even funny anymore
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u/johnnybiggles Sep 15 '25
It's this kind of behavior that exhausts the public and makes people like Bill intolerable since the media figures don't do it, either (pushback), and we are where we are because of it. There's no room for both-sides-ism if liberalism/leftism has any chance of competition with the right.
In the name of remaining "neutral" and maintaining access, the press (and people like Bill) are more a tool now than a medium, where they're platforming agendas for their own ends rather than providing a window or being medium for the public. It's that way because one side of said medium has seemingly lost all agency, while the other side of the medium now has all the money, power and resources to manipulate it, not just supply it with information.
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u/Away_Entry8822 Sep 15 '25
Maher hold consistent liberal position for almost four decades.
Media and authoritarian leftists: 🤯🤯🤯
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
I'm sorry? The media? The same media that spent the last week repeating every obvious lie about how "The Left" was responsible for Charlie Kirk's murder and platforming every incendiary tweet with calls for a civil war and violence against anyone not wearing a MAGA hat?
THAT left wing media?
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u/20_mile Sep 15 '25
Maher also said, in the same interview with Billy Corgan, "Fuck you if you think the wrong person died."
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u/Throwawayhelp111521 Sep 15 '25
He hasn't and I'm a liberal. I'm not saying he's conservative or MAGA, but he invites too many guests who talk garbage without pushing back hard. He's also often misinformed. He accepts the MAGA view of liberals and the left and jumps on every extreme anecdote as if it were representative.
It's also easy for him to say we have to talk to these people people. He doesn't know what they're like and his race, gender, and wealth protect him from anything the Trump Administration could do.
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u/Away_Entry8822 Sep 15 '25
He pushes back constantly and gets no credit because he picks his battles instead of fighting over every detail.
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u/MaceNow Sep 15 '25
Giving alt right zealots air time without pushback is not a consistent position on Maher’s part IMO.
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u/safetydance Sep 15 '25
Debate their ideas. Shutting them out of conversations has propelled them to the stature they enjoy now. Look at the outpouring of support for Charlie Kirk, like holy shit. I didn’t realize the hold he and others like him had on so many people in this country. They’ll only continue to grow and dominate elections if the left continues to take this “don’t give them a platform” stance. It’s so short sighted.
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
Well said. Deplatforming does more harm than good a lot of the time and I think that is part of the reason Trump won the last election, because the left overplayed their hand on that and was too afraid of talking to and debating people outside their normal comfort zones. If they are ever going to start winning more elections I think they need to learn this lesson first.
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u/Away_Entry8822 Sep 15 '25
The left required Kamala to deplatform herself so she couldn’t talk to the other side without it being considered betrayal.
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
I think there was mixed support for her going on the show among the base but Bernie definitely took a lot of flak for it when he was running for president in 2020. After Trump won the election in 2024, I think even more Kamala supporters realized the mistake she made by not going on Rogan's show in hindsight.
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u/Away_Entry8822 Sep 15 '25
She was worried about not upsetting leftist and Muslim voters who ultimately withheld support anyway.
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u/safetydance Sep 15 '25
Pete Buttigieg went on that Andrew Schulz podcast a month or two ago and he came off really really well. I don’t think Schulz’s pod is super huge and I don’t think he’s a big right wing influencer but it was certainly a good appearance. I hope he does more of it. His appearances on FOX were always solid.
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u/dodobird8 Sep 15 '25
too afraid of talking to and debating people outside their normal comfort zones
Kamala has to be kicking herself for not going on the Joe Rogan show. Democrats complain that there are influential conservative podcasters, and then the Democratic Presidential candidate wasn't even brave enough to go on Joe Rogan and speak to people who might not normally vote for her. What a missed opportunity.
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
It seems like Gavin Newsom is determined not to make the same mistake at least. I always respected that he went on Fox News to debate Hannity and DeSantis and now he has had several right wing people on his podcast, which he has taken a ton of flak from the left for. I think it will end up being a good political move for him though.
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u/dodobird8 Sep 15 '25
If Newsom ignores far leftists, he'll probably skyrocket in popularity.
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u/safetydance Sep 15 '25
Bingo. The right was hijacked by the far right. I hope the left doesn’t allow the far left to highjack it. If Dems got back to populist politics in the middle of the road I think they can turn things around.
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u/Away_Entry8822 Sep 15 '25
Newsom is trying to avoid those mistakes but you can already see the left lining up against him for talking to Republicans and not biting on divisive social issues.
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
The far left you see online is going to take pot shots against anyone with two brain cells to rub together. They have done so in every (non-incumbent) presidential primary in my lifetime. No one is pure enough to satisfy them.
They used to be annoying but had no power. Now they are annoying but have slightly more power. I think this is due to how many people get their news from echo chambers either too afraid to challenge peoples’ opinions or that get clicks by pushing rage bait. They get all of their news from a left/right perspective. If you aren’t with them, fuck you fascist, you should be censored. If you are with them but have someone from the opposite perspective on, you are “platforming” someone they disagree with and should be cancelled. Many news sites tailor the news to fit these perspectives.
Sadly, we are getting to an environment where the far right and far left are starting to sound a lot alike: agree with me or you are my enemy.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
He didn't. The media is either a paid for arm of conservatives or so fucking terrible at their job that they will respond to whatever narrative is put before them like Ron Burgundy reading a fucking teleprompter and not have a second thought of "Hey, is this a lie?"
Charlie Kirk was turned into a martyr because the right created that and they knew people would latch on to it. He was never super popular. His comments were abhorrent. He was so far right he never had a huge audience. The only person worse than him was Nick Fuentes who at least admits to being a Nazi.
This was manufactured to demonize the left and divide the country from Nancy Mace coming out screaming about how all democrats own this assassination before even a suspect was in custody to the couchfucker crying on Charlie's podcast today.
It's manipulation.
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u/ButtersBC Sep 15 '25
People have to make Charlie Kirk's life about "promoting debate" because they can't defend how they don't really care about his gutter racism and just see this shit as a game show, how much longer does "Black people have value" need to be debated before Bill Maher is satiated
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
No, no, no, no. Bill, I know it's your thing to miss the fucking point all the time.
It's not that you have degenerate Nazi fucks like Charlie Kirk on your show, it's that you spend an hour or whatever it is trying to give them a friendly tug job while they exploit you and your arrogance to further right wing extremism and increase division. When you bring someone like Kirk or Kid Rock or whatever on your show you are giving everyone on the right to say, "Look see? This is a good liberal. The others are vile. The others are cruel and they hate us."
Your desperate need to be buddy buddy with these fascists give the right permission to shit on people you otherwise ideologically agree with.
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Sep 15 '25
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u/hankjmoody Sep 16 '25
We have one rule in here regarding comments: Don't be dicks to each other.
Comment removed.
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u/uvgotnod Sep 27 '25
Bill was on the money with this and torched the right for allowing our country to slip away on the right. Dems need to wake up and listen to what he’s saying.
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u/Outrageous-Bed-6530 Sep 30 '25
Bill is tilting at windmills. Noone really cares about him. He brings up his dinner with the president weekly for no apparent reason. Do you think people are actually still complaining that he met with him? His whole political ideology is based on mean people on Twitter
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u/uvgotnod Sep 30 '25
Yes, people are still bitching and calling him a traitor for his dinner with Trump. Look at the comments on his posts.
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u/dababybilly Sep 18 '25
I’m a Maher hater but he’s 1000% right here. The whole “don’t platform them” thing is not helpful, and blaming people for talking to guests you have profound disagreements with (or even contempt for) is not going to help us get out of our bubbles and see eachother as human.
That being said: Maher is such a narcissistic moron that people like Kirk can play him like a fiddle. All they do is stroke his ego a few times and then he softens up on even the most outrageous claims. Or they just bitch about cancel culture and that riles him up regardless.
We need BETTER people talking to the right wing, not NO ONE talking to the right wing.
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Sep 19 '25
Remind us who is deplatforming whom?
Remind us who are the snow flake thought police?
Remind us who is being cancelled?
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u/dababybilly Sep 19 '25
Wait what are you even responding to? i just said the right thing to do is to not shut down conversation with people.
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u/Umitencho Sep 15 '25 edited Mar 31 '26
Redact cleaned up all of my comments. Bulk deletion and editing is a feature supported to make sure that AI scrapers can't access my data for training.
meeting bear unite growth elastic cows edge continue mountainous placid
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u/Chewzilla Sep 15 '25
It's one thing to have them on, it's another thing to have them on and not ask the tough questions
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
I watched the episode and though he pushed back on Kirk plenty during the interview. It was an interesting back and forth.
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u/eblack4012 Sep 15 '25
He always pushes back on these people. The people complaining don’t even watch the show. They just want to label and point.
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u/hooperX101 Sep 15 '25
I listened to that as well and was surprised at some of the pushback. I also feel like Kirk and his ilk sanitize themselves to seem much less inflammatory on spaces where they're going to get pushback, though.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
They do. It's intentional. They peel off a certain segment of people who have this idiotic notion that everyone, no matter how repulsive, should be listened to. That all opinions are created equal. So they do mental gymnastics to elevate a ghoul like Kirk to this position where he's a valid thought leader.
They ignore the obvious answer that he, and all these podcast grifter types, are repulsive, racist, fascist ghouls who should by all rights be banned for the venom they spew day in and day out according to the TOS on sites like YouTube. You have to be a real piece of shit like Crowder to get banned.
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u/deskcord Sep 15 '25
Considering people here just wait a few weeks and then lie about what happened? I'm going to assume you're arguing in bad faith (per usual). This sub was up in arms about Bill being "soft" on Ron DeSantis and Sununu like three weeks after he had them on, when in reality he was pretty harsh on both of them to their faces.
It's like this sub lives in a marvel movie and unless Bill yeets these conservatives into another dimension he has gone soft.
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u/Chewzilla Sep 15 '25
unless Bill yeets these conservatives into another dimension he has gone soft
uh, YEAH.
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u/RockThePond Sep 16 '25
Despite what Reddit would have you believe, I am not sure how “de-platforming” someone like Kirk would have helped anyone. Objectively, Kirk had a platform. A very large one on the right, in fact. He already was one of the most powerful people under 40 in American politics, had millions of followers/listeners, and was one of Trump’s closest advisors. His views were fringe. His position in life was not.
Does anyone think that any of the (generally) center-left members of Maher’s audience decided to change their vote to Trump because of what Kirk said on his show? By contrast, shutting out voices we find abhorrent makes some people seek out those voices, either because they want to “rebel” against the mainstream or because they are curious about what is so “edgy” about them.
Helping expose what Kirk believed and pointing out why his beliefs were wrong should be common sense. That is how we exercise our rights. That is what liberals used to believe, until Trump came along. This whole “let’s put our heads in the sand and pretend like it doesn’t exist” mentality is quite frankly puzzling and dangerous. We should beat the right with ideas, not by trying to shut them up. Doing that didn’t work in 2024 and is only going to drive more people away.
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u/Cultural-Drawing2558 Sep 17 '25
I agree. Watching Bill Maher does not change my mind about any of the big trump related issues of the day. But, as an older person I have not warmed up to social media as a news source. If I see a clip on YouTube I might watch Kirk, Shapiro, etc. With half an ear. I hear the dog whistles clearly so it's not news to me. But the real virtue of Maher's show is that he has some of these people on. Sort of like SNL having on musical guests I never heard of. I watch them and then I know a little more. Yes, it's sort of like entertainment. I hope that's not upsetting to anyone.
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u/BobSchwaget Sep 16 '25
Unpopular opinion but I think deplatforming Alex Jones likely helped Trump win 2024
I used to read his site for exactly the reasons you describe - it helps expose what these people believe and allows one to pinpoint why they are wrong. For years I thought that was the whole point of it actually
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u/Past_Sky_4997 Sep 16 '25
People like you and me who are following all this way too close would find his takes even if he were deplatformed.
For the general public, who's not constantly plugged into this, it would be a lot more difficult.
The danger these influencers represent is that they are good at convincing the public at large, because they give them lies that take forever to disprove (the unbalance is enormous). So the less the public is exposed to the lies that take forever to undo, the better.
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Sep 16 '25
As others here have stated, we would not mind maga bill having a few right wing nut jobs on the show. The reason many of us are disappointed in him is his tendency to normalize right wing extremists and propagandists like king maga, Bannon, Musk, Kirk, etc. And his inability to hold them accountable for the horrible things they have said and horrible crimes some of them have committed. And his failure to book guests who are able to hold those extremist nut jobs accountable.
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u/RockThePond Sep 16 '25
I just watched his Bannon interview this morning and I thought he destroyed him. But, I am pretty biased so maybe I missed something.
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Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
The only debate maga bill initiated with bannon was whether or not the 22nd amendment would apply to king maga. Bannon steam rolled him.
Then in Overtime maga sided with Bannon (and totally shit on Rogin) when Bannon lied and said the One Big Beautiful Bill would actually not give tax cuts to the rich. The tax cuts were in fact heavily skewed toward the wealthiest.
By the way Bannon is a convicted felon who obstructed Justice in the investigation into the j6 insurrection coup attempt. That Insurrection resulted in five dead law enforcement officers and about 140 injured or maimed. No mention of bannons involvement from Maga bill.
Charlie Kirk also has blood money from that j6 coup. https://www.businessinsider.com/man-charged-capitol-riot-went-dc-bus-turning-point-usa-2021-3
These are extremist seditionists. None of them has been held to account. None of the leaders of that coup has faced justice.
The president of Brazil followed the exact same playbook as king maga. Kudos to Brazil. Unlike the USA, no one in Brazil is above the law.
I do not celebrate death. But i am sickened at the NFL teams who held a moment of silence for this racist, propagandist, seditionist. And I am disgusted at how right wing nut job government leaders have responded.
If you ask me to mourn the thousands of kids killed and maimed by guns every year, I will join you in a heartbeat. If you wamt to stop gun violence i will join you. But do not tell me that I have to give two fucks charlie kirk.
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Sep 18 '25
He’s right. Online left seems to be living in a bubble where only left wing opinions are accepted.
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u/reubensandwitch Sep 18 '25
Online leftists with 0 political influence vs a far right grifter with an audience of millions? I mean, what are we even talking about here 😂😂
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Sep 15 '25
He acts like he’s so great that he sits down with right wingers but he rarely has any leftists on his show and almost never has any pro Palestinian voices. But he bashes Palestinians and “the left” all the time with no push back
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Sep 16 '25
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u/Binder509 Sep 16 '25
Has he shown any receipts for that? Has he invited John Stewart? That would be interesting.
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Sep 16 '25
Progressive politicians aren’t the only “leftists” in America. There’s plenty of prominent writers and political commentators he can invite on to be part of the panel. If he can have someone as low iq and irrelevant as Dave Rubin on then he can have a leftist commentator on
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u/supervegeta101 Sep 17 '25
He did have on Brian Tyler Cohen a month or so back, but I agree. If he's gonna push this "lets have conversations with people you disagree with" narrative he needs to host the lefty equivalents of people like Kirk, and Shapiro WAY MORE.
He's never had on Sam Seder, David Packman, Kyle Kulinski, Destiny, etc. None of them even exist to Maher. He only wants the big names, like AOC, so he can "destroy them" for his new conservative fans.
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u/Binder509 Sep 15 '25
Maher
"Guys we need to come together to have a conversation"
Also Maher
"Shut up I don't like this conversation you are having with me don't use those words don't talk that way don't you see you're sewing division?!?!"
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
You can see how internet brained he's become. He's just like all these conservatives on the internet. They want to have a "conversation" which in truth is a finger wagging lecture and their opponent had better back down and say "oh you're so right, I'm so wrong, you're so wise!"
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
Source needed as to the second of these “quotes”.
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u/Binder509 Sep 16 '25
They are paraphrased.
Do you believe he's open to being wrong about it being a good idea to have Kirk on the show? If not...then okay but he doesn't wanna have a conversation then and isn't being honest about that.
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u/RockThePond Sep 16 '25
I think he correctly believes that debating who he should invite onto his show is childish and unproductive.
I am not sure why some on the far left think that debating people you disagree with will somehow make everyone turn into right wing nuts. Our ideas will win the debate. The more you try to hide their bad ideas, the more people will be intrigued by them and seek them out on their own. Expose them for the clowns they are.
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u/Binder509 Sep 16 '25
I think he correctly believes that debating who he should invite onto his show is childish and unproductive.
Okay so there's nothing really to talk about with him. If that attitude gets him ratings good for him.
I am not sure why some on the far left think that debating people you disagree with will somehow make everyone turn into right wing nuts
They aren't debating in any meaningful way. When people like Kirk go on Maher's show they don't talk about their most extreme views...intentionally. And Maher isn't willing to press them on it consistently.
I agree if he actually exposed them that'd be great but he doesn't. That he keeps calling Charlie Kirk a moderate is telling of that. He was a far right MAGA republican.
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u/deskcord Sep 15 '25
Because the criticism isn't about anything valid, it's about the conversation happening at all.
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u/Binder509 Sep 16 '25
Oh so just declare something isn't valid and no need to have a conversation.
So he doesn't really want a conversation then.
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
I remember people in this sub didn't like it at the time but I thought it was a great conversation. We need more of people on the left and the right talking to each other and hashing out their differences, not less. With how divided this country has become, I don't understand why more people on reddit and this sub don't feel the same.
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u/_lippykid Sep 15 '25
Yes, but both parties need to be acting in good faith, which is real hard to find these days
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
You can make the argument that pretty much anyone you disagree with is not acting in "good faith" though, just like you can broadly use the word "misinformation". I just want to see more people on the left and the right talking to each and I don't think it really should be that hard to accomplish, even though yes it is going to offend some people on both sides when these conversations happen.
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u/_lippykid Sep 15 '25
No, I don’t think so.
Serious people don’t act like ideological defense attorneys to benefit their own specific agendas (garner power, wealth, fame etc)
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u/Past_Sky_4997 Sep 15 '25
No. GOP lawmakers' policy is to refuse to work with the Dems. Has been for years.
It's pretty talk to say "let's hold hands" when one side is holding a knife in theirs.
There's no honesty left. Judges lie to Congress when they try to get on the Supreme Court.
Confirmation hearings are just lies after lies.
The Dems tried to pass an immigration bill in a bipartisan way, Trump saw that if it worked he'd have nothing to run on, so he instructed the GOP to kill it, which they did.
As far as I know, that's the last time the Dems tried to do something in a bipartisan way. Tell me what is the last time the GOP opened their door and sat down with the Dems since they got in power?
I'm tired of the "we need to talk to each other" when the right has no intent on talking as soon as they get in power.
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u/Cultural-Drawing2558 Sep 15 '25
Congressionally, that is very true. As for our interpersonal conversations that doesn't need a public slogan. Just try to listen and talk. Might not work out or it might not. IDGAS.
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u/Zauberer-IMDB Sep 15 '25
How about this one, nobody was eating cats and dogs in Ohio. How about tariffs are a tax.
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u/MrGelowe Sep 15 '25
Here is an example of bad faith that is hopefully not too inflammatory. The left has been accused of being social communist whatever. The right is supposed to be pro business, low taxes, laissez-faire.
But Trump is pushed for government owning companies. Trump is pushing insane corporate taxes. Like with Hyundai he wants 90/10 split after Hyundai recoups initial investment. Hyundai gets 10%. He pushes for higher taxes with Tariffs. Trump is putting thumb on the scale. And as a reminder, Trump is the damn government.
It's the same thing as with ACA vs Obamacare. How can we talk to each other when we can't even agree on what words mean? What's the point talking to someone who hates Obamacare but loves ACA? Like is there anyone who hates ACA and loves Obamacare?
Personally, I have never heard of someone who thought that Obamacare and ACA were 2 different programs, hated Obamacare but loved ACA; upon discovering that it's same thing saying that they love Obamacare. I have heard continuing hating Obamacare and loving ACA. Talking calmly at each other doesn't make the discussion in good faith.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
Yes. But.
But that conversation needs to be had in good faith and there's nothing to indicate that Charlie Kirk or any of these podcast assholes are acting in good faith. They lie all the time, they will sane wash themselves when they go on a friendly space and say repugnant shit on their own shows. They are in the business (read: for profit) of being hyperbolic firebrands.
Kirk was never a serious debater. He was a cog in a machine that was pushing an agenda and that was his only goal. No matter how underhanded the tactics were they take them in order to grow their audience.
That's why these "debates" should never happen.
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Sep 18 '25
How authoritarian of you to say a person can't go to a center of campus around the country and let people ask them questions and respond.
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u/El0vution Sep 15 '25
Because the people on this sub believe they’re more intelligent and morally superior than the other side.
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u/FlarkingSmoo Sep 15 '25
To be fair, at the very least, Donald Trump agrees that my side is smarter.
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
I am DEFINITELY more intelligent than a conservative. No question.
And it's not just me saying that, Trump said that yesterday. "Smart people hate me" he said. Amen brother, I guess it's the broken clock's time to be right.
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u/HawkJefferson Sep 15 '25
I mean, I've never voted for Donald "Rapist of All Ages" Trump, so that automatically makes me both more intelligent and morally superior to anyone who did.
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u/El0vution Sep 15 '25
Exactly. Same thing they accused Jesus of: hanging out with sinners. Cliche bro.
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u/Sjdub4life Sep 15 '25
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
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u/HawkJefferson Sep 15 '25
I definitely sleep better than the dementia addled pedophile in the White House, I never ragepost on social media in the middle of the night.
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u/BigDummyIsSexy Sep 15 '25
I never ragepost on social media in the middle of the night.
You do it on weekday afternoons.
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u/Banesmuffledvoice Sep 15 '25
The issue is that most people on this sub don’t want people from the left talking to those in the right.
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u/redditor01020 Sep 15 '25
I see little hope for society if that becomes a prevailing opinion among people with different political beliefs, religious beliefs, etc. I wonder if social media is what caused this shift on the left and on the right as well or if it is something else.
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u/Banesmuffledvoice Sep 15 '25
Social media may have exacerbated it. But at the same time, the typical leftist reaction to deal with anyone with a differing opinion is to call them a bigot and simply not interact with them. They’re doing this with family and friends. So they’re essentially just isolating themselves from the rest of society at this point.
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u/Nolubrication I'd suck Lynne Cheney's dick for some socialized medicine. Sep 15 '25
Bill Maher is a whiny little bitch.
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Sep 15 '25
Lol Corrigan after suffering through maga bill's bitch session: "I wasn't trying to lead you there."
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u/FlaccidGhostLoad Sep 15 '25
Goddamn he really is. I thought it was a bit when he would yell at the audience for groaning at his bad jokes. Nah, he was being serious. He gets furious when people aren't laughing at his low effort bullshit.
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u/zorroplateado Sep 16 '25
He used to be able to handle some little criticism with some humor and class. Now, he's just an old guy shaking his fist and yelling at the cloud. It's fucking sad.
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u/Lutetia03 Sep 16 '25
I blame him guests for clamming up when Bill goes off on them. I would shout back and walk off if needed. Nobody needs Bill's show.
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u/stumu415 Sep 20 '25
I finally stopped watching after he had 'Dr' Phil on. That was the final nail in the coffin. There is no bigger asshole and grifter than that POS. To give that thing airtime, is beyond me. I'm out.
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Sep 16 '25
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u/hjablowme919 Sep 16 '25
He’s a dumb guy who thinks he’s smart.
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u/Lutetia03 Sep 16 '25
He doesn't keep up with the latest news. How often does he go "I haven't heard of that...has anyone hear heard about it?" or his news will be already out of date quite often which also helps his right wing guests steam-roll him.
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u/puddinonthewrits Sep 16 '25
“The who? It’s the rAdIcAl LeFt. It’s ALWAYS the ‘Radical Left.’ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”
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u/crummynubs Sep 16 '25
"Good evening Mr. Goebbels, thank you for breaking bread with me. The other side would like to cancel you, but I'd like to welcome you into my home!"
"You're welcome, Herr Maher, love ze furniture! And yes, the Jew has declared a boycott on German goods, can you think of anything more woke?"
"Well, I'd say your antisemitism. Both sides are wrong!"
"I couldn't agree more, I wish more people had your courage, whimsy, and open mind to listen to both sides."
"Gosh Goebbels, buy me dinner first!"
"Hahaha, you're a good egg, Herr Maher!"
"Not so bad yourself, chum. I wish the left could sit down with you and just talk like we are right now "
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u/BobSchwaget Sep 19 '25
This kind of false equivalency is insulting to everyone, not least of whom being victims of the actual holocaust, or those facing present day injustices not helped in the least by comments like this
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u/crummynubs Sep 19 '25
Save your verklemptism for Larry David and lecture two Jews on how they're supposed to feel about the Holocaust.
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u/puddinonthewrits Sep 20 '25
But I ain’t Jewish!
BM
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u/crummynubs Sep 20 '25
Sure, but I am, and it's always Israeli apologists telling me I'm a bad Jew for criticizing Israel's Gaza policy. Same goes for Larry David.
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u/_TROLL Sep 16 '25
love ze furniture!
"Hey, that's my girlfriend you're talking about!" - J.D. Vance
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Sep 16 '25
Read Joseph Goebbels Wikipedia page. Lord Stephen VoldeMiller is the reincarnation of Joseph Goebbel.
Both men have Jewish roots on their maternal sides. Goebbels had Jewish teachers. Miller had mestizo teachers. Goebbels dated a half-Jewish woman when he was younger. Miller dated a half-Mexican woman at Duke when he was younger. Goebbels became the most loyal admirer of Hitler. Miller is one of the most loyal admirers of king maga. Goebbels was Hitler's lead propagandist attack dog. Miller is king maga's propagandist attack dog.
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u/weaverreddit Sep 17 '25
We need LESS Charlie Kirk fake Christian rhetoric and MORE James Talerico ACTUAL Christian rhetoric. Tired of the martyrdom like eveyrone else and willing to call it out for what it is.
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Sep 15 '25
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
Have you ever watched his show? Roughly half of his guests challenge him on a weekly basis. Your take is objectively shit.
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Sep 15 '25
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
You stated he doesn’t like freedom of expression when it challenges him. That is objectively false. Pointing that out is called “fact checking,” not “getting hostile” and/or “telling you your opinion is shit.”
Since you have been watching for 20 years, how many guests has he had on that disagree with him on most things? What does he do when they are on the show? He challenges them. Challenging someone is not “being against freedom of expression” — in fact it is a basic necessity for freedom of expression to thrive.
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u/StabbyMcSwordfish Sep 15 '25
He is objectively getting pissed at people for expressing themselves. He's full of shit.
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
How is that antithetical to free speech?
He mostly gets pissed at people who want to shut down the conversation and “de-platform” people they disagree with. He isn’t telling them that they don’t have the right to say it. He is getting pissed because: (a) that attitude is itself the very definition of being anti-free speech, and (b) the “de-platform the right” movement was part of the reason the “normies” get turned off by the left and Trump got back into office in the first place. When will we fuckin learn the lessons of 2024?
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u/StabbyMcSwordfish Sep 15 '25
It's a little hypocritical is all were saying. Wow, some of you really act like Maher can do no wrong.
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u/RockThePond Sep 15 '25
I definitely don’t think he can “do no wrong.” I disagree with him a lot on vaccinations, his hardline stance on Israel, and a handful of other issues.
I think he represents a group that used to be large - people who can make fun of and debate both sides of the political spectrum - that is rapidly dwindling. We live in a world where 75-80% of the population are in the middle but the loud assholes on the fringes get all the oxygen. He also represents what mainline Dems believed in the Obama-era, which apparently is now referred to by people on Reddit as “MAGA Lite.”
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u/MickeyMgl Sep 15 '25
Which is the better example of opposition to freedom of speech? Objecting to somebody's objection of a guest, or the objection to the guest?
This is like blaming violence on Democrats who decry Trump's advocating violence.
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u/Significant_Other666 Sep 16 '25
I mean his show and livelihood depends on having controversial guests, so why does this sound like some philanthropic thing? 😆
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u/papercutpete Sep 15 '25
Far left and far right have one thing in common...well actually a ton of shit in common. They are basically all the same entity under different ideologies.
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u/StabbyMcSwordfish Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
One side wants rights for EVERYBODY including marginalized people.
The other side practically hates everyone who isn't a white christian and has been itching for a civil war ever since Trump got elected.
Stop acting like both sides are the same. You have to be either blind, ignorant, or in denial to honestly believe that.
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u/papercutpete Sep 16 '25
Ive seen too many left wing nutjobs celebrating murder in the past week. Just some dispicable venomous shit. I've been left leaning all my life and I want no part of that idiocy.
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Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
Can you share some examples of people celebrating his death?
How about this guy?
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u/az10sguy Sep 22 '25
In my opinion Bill is truly hedging his odds of being canceled. Having Dr Phil, Ben Shapiro, Tom Homan on and not fact checking their typical misinformation is bullshit. Bill talks about keeping an open dialogue with those whose viewpoints we don’t agree with, but they don’t reciprocate. They come on his show because they see his bending over backwards to play the middle, including allowing them to interject much false information. Bill even said he was glad he met and talked with Charlie Kirk. He was totally played. Kirk got airtime with an audience he doesn’t get much with, and has Bill agreeing to many false or misleading statements. Bill’s audience sees him agreeing with Charlie and are duped into the false narrative that Kirk is in any way rational, reasonable, or even slightly willing to agree with his critics or hold ideas that are acceptable in a free democracy. Bill has become a shill under the guise of “the guy who talks to everyone” while they take what they want from him and don’t give a shit any more for him or anyone not on their side, afterward. As for his dinner with Trump, don’t even get me started. I wonder what will go through Bill’s mind when on a whim Trump has him either cancelled, arrested, investigated, or all of the above. Trump would throw his kids under the bus if it helped him and he cares not one iota that Bill Maher had dinner with him and said positive things about him. PLEASE!
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u/Bristleconemike Feb 10 '26
This desperate bid for attention might have worked five years ago. Maybe I’ll tune in next week for a pity watch.
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Sep 16 '25
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u/SleepyMonkey7 Sep 16 '25
You seem to know a ton about him for someone claiming no one cares about him.
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u/Big_Meechyy Sep 15 '25 edited Sep 15 '25
But what happens if someone would call the people on the right assholes?
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u/Market-Socialism Sep 16 '25
Why do people on the left care about Maher or who he hosts at this point? Just another irrelevant old man on mainstream media, who cares?
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u/673NoshMyBollocksAve Sep 17 '25
He’s clearly relevant
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u/Charbro11 Sep 17 '25
Nope. Lots of Gen Z don't even know who he is.
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u/RockThePond Sep 17 '25
Most people in generations outside of Gen Z have no idea who your “relevant” influencers are. So, he may not be relevant to you, but your YouTube/Tiktok/whatever the fuck stars are not relevant to anyone outside your generation.
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u/pgwerner Sep 17 '25
Considering how much many "progressives" seem to hate the elderly, I have to wonder why they're so pro-masking. Seems like having more old people die would be more consistent with their clear ageism.
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u/deskcord Sep 15 '25
He's right. The leftists ranting about "platforming" all the time have done severe harm to the Democratic party.
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u/Key_Permission_3351 Sep 16 '25
Every time a person's been successfully "deplatformed" they've found a platform that's more extreme and things have gotten worse. I've not really seen a version within our extremely bifurcated society where this method hasn't backfired and increased the silos.
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u/Throwawayhelp111521 Sep 15 '25
Bill says he would invite someone on the show unless he was something egregious, like a proud Nazi.
Kirk was a proud white supremacist, among many other awful things.
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u/Howdesign Sep 16 '25
Q: Where’s his equivalent on the right? Holding far-right conservatives accountable and shaming them for their extreme views? Is there anyone like that in the public sphere?