Bill Maher came out swinging against the “hypocritical” cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Friday’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher—while also saying his fellow late-night host was wrong for what he said about Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel’s show was put on indefinite hiatus on Wednesday after the host made comments about the reaction to the assassination of the right-wing activist.
“The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on his Monday show.
Bill Maher talks about the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel. / HBO
Kimmel also described Trump’s response to Kirk’s death—in which the president pivoted immediately to pointing out the start of construction on his new White House ballroom—as “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
“I don’t think what he said was exactly right. I don’t,” said Maher. “We don’t agree on that,” Maher said during his opening monologue, adding, “He shouldn’t lose his job for it.”
Maher appeared to take issue with Kimmel’s pushback against right-wing rhetoric suggesting that Kirk’s suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, was a Democrat.
“Jimmy’s wrong, I think, to put [Robinson] in one team. But, you know, look at what this guy is doing,” Maher said. “I mean, Jimmy has every right to be wrong, but look at this guy.”
Kimmel’s comments—which have been defended by fellow talk-show hosts including Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, and David Letterman—drew the fury of President Donald Trump, who described them as “a horrible thing about a great gentleman.”
ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! following an announcement from parent company Nexstar Media that Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive.”
Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission, described Kimmel’s comments as an attempt to “play into a narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person.”
Maher went on to add that trying to pigeonhole “nuts” who commit acts of violence like Robinson is a “false errand.”
“This kid doesn’t belong in either party. He belongs in a straitjacket. He’s an outpatient who should not be out,” Maher said.
“But you have the right to be wrong or to have any opinion you want,” Maher added. “That’s what the First Amendment is all about.”
Sharing an anecdote about the fact it has been 24 years since Maher himself was cancelled on ABC, opening a slot for Kimmel, the Real Time host said his “friend” and “compatriot” would be OK.
“Jimmy, let me just say, you did a great, funny show for two decades. You should be proud of that,” Maher said.
“If this firing goes for you the way it did for me, you’ll get 23 years on a better network.”
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