\u201cI\u2019m not giving it any oxygen,\u201d said the HBO host.<\/b>
\nBill Maher didn\u2019t mince words when addressing President Donald Trump\u2019s latest online controversy, taking aim at the former reality star-turned-POTUS for sharing a potentially racist AI-generated video depicting former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes.
During the Friday, February 6 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the 70-year-old host addressed the incident after Trump, 79, briefly posted \u2014 and then deleted \u2014 the offensive clip on Truth Social.
Kicking off his opening monologue, Maher noted the timing of the post, pointing out that it came during Black History Month. He joked that the Trump administration appeared to mark the occasion by calling for \u201ca moment of indifference.\u201d
\u201cNo, they did something much worse,\u201d Maher continued. \u201cTrump did a Rosanne [Barr]. Did you see this? And shared a video of Black people superimposed as apes, and the people were the Obamas. I\u2019m not going to show it because I don\u2019t want to give it any oxygen.\u201d
Maher also took issue with the explanation offered by the administration after the backlash.
\u201cBut the defense, I thought, from the administration, was rather lame,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said he did not mean to hit \u2018share.\u2019 He meant to hit \u2018like.\u2019\u201d
The late-night host then turned his attention to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, whom he described as a \u201cvery loyal spokesperson,\u201d before dissecting her justification for the post.
\u201cShe said the president was just reposting a meme of him as the king of the jungle with Democrats as characters from The Lion King,\u201d Maher said. \u201cAs world leaders do.\u201d
Maher wasn\u2019t buying it, outlining what he called two major flaws in the explanation.
\u201cOne, there are no apes in The Lion King,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd two, if it\u2019s a cartoon character, that\u2019s OK? That\u2019s a rule now? If it\u2019s a cartoon, it\u2019s OK to do anything? So it\u2019s OK if somebody made a cartoon of Elmer Fudd shooting Charlie Kirk, that would be OK? You f***ing hypocrites.\u201d
Maher also dug into election anxiety during a separate sit-down with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, which you can watch above. The two sparred over Trump\u2019s grip on the Republican Party and what Christie warned is a growing push by some Republicans to take over how elections are run \u2014 including who counts the votes \u2014 a prospect that left Maher visibly unconvinced this was all \u201cno big deal.\u201d
Real Time With Bill Maher airs Fridays at 10\/9c on HBO.
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