Comedian Bill Maher condemned the assassination attempt on former President Trump on Saturday, while fretting about the political damage it had caused progressives and calling Trump the “luckiest motherf—er” who ever lived.
“I’m glad he’s OK,” he said in Minneapolis at a stand-up special, reacting shortly after the stunning events. “Trump, I’ve got to say this, the luckiest motherf—er that has ever walked the face of the earth. And again, I’m happy he’s OK. I mean, 2016, that has got to be the luckiest – he lost the popular vote by a lot, he just pulled an inside straight.”
Maher, a staunch critic of the president who hosts HBO’s “Real Time”, said “I unequivocally denounce” the shooting, guessing there would be jokes by some of Trump’s foes about it “because they hate him so much.”
“Not from me. Not from me,” Maher said, as his audience applauded.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is assisted by security personnel after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
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Trump was shot in the ear by a would-be assassin while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday evening. The shooter, before being killed by law enforcement, killed one rally attendee and critically wounded two others. Trump waved defiantly to his supporters as he was hustled off the stage by Secret Service, yelling, “Fight!”
The shooter was identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania. Crooks was a registered Republican, according to voting records, but he only participated in the Nov. 8, 2022, state election due to his age. Records show he made a $15 donation to Progressive Turnout Project, a Chicago-based political action committee that supports Democrat candidates for public office and claims to advocate for “key Democratic constituencies: young people, minorities and low-income people.”
Maher said the image of Trump leaving the stage, fist in the air with blood on his face, could mean the 2024 election was “over,” while adding anything could still happen.
“MAGA Nation finally has its full martyr,” he said.
Maher added it might not matter who Democrats put up as their nominee now, as President Biden has defied calls to step down from the nomination since his brutal debate showing last month and concerns about his mental acuity and ability to beat Trump.
“He played this scene like he rehearsed it,” Maher said, imitating Trump’s fist-waving, while quickly adding “idiot conspiracy theorists” would push false flag notions.
“He gets grazed and the other guy gets shot. It’s so Trump,” he added, as some audience members groaned.
While Maher is hardly alone on the late-night circuit as a political liberal, he’s stood out from his contemporaries by calling on fellow Americans to understand Trump supporters, often saying you may hate Trump but can’t hate all his fans. He also routinely criticizes so-called “wokeness” and excesses on the left, which has won him progressive critics.
“Real Time” host Bill Maher (Screenshot/HBO)
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Maher fretted the shooting had done immense damage to the political left.
“Lost a lot of moral high ground in the ‘you’re the violent people.’ Liberals don’t shoot people,” he said. “Liberals don’t solve it that way.”
Belying Maher’s point, in 2017, a Bernie Sanders supporter opened fire in Alexandria, Va., at a practice for a Congressional baseball game, critically wounding Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and several others.
Maher pivoted to criticism of “Project 2025,” the lengthy list of policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation for the next Republican White House that has drawn massive attention from the media in recent weeks. Many liberal critics have called it a frightening blueprint of an authoritarian takeover.
He paraphrased Kevin Roberts, the president of the conservative think tank, who told a podcast earlier this month that the next “American Revolution” will “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
“This s–t has got to stop,” Maher said. “Because none of this violence happens in a vacuum. It’s never in a vacuum.”
Maher added he could already see the memes coming.
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“This is going to work for him,” he said. “Biden can’t get through a debate, and a bullet can’t stop Donald Trump!”
Biden called Trump Saturday evening and condemned the shooting, joining a bipartisan chorus wishing him well.
Fox News’ Scott McDonald contributed to this report.