Bill Maher issued a bold response to Charlie Kirk‘s death while also fact-checking panelist Ben Shapiro on his late-night show.
On the Friday, September 12 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the comedian sat down with Shapiro and The Atlantic writer Tim Alberta. They discussed freedom of speech and how it intersects with the death of Kirk, a conservative activist and the founder of Turning Point USA, who was fatally shot on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University.
“He was shot under a banner that said, ‘Prove Me Wrong’ because he was a debater. Too many people think the way to do that, to prove you wrong, is to just eliminate you from talking altogether,” Maher pointed out. “So, the people who mocked his death or justified it, I think you’re gross, I have no use for you. The people who are saying now we’re at war, I have no use for you.”
During the trio’s chat, Shapiro brought up a poll that revealed only 58% of Gen Z say there is “no excuse for violence in response to speech.” Alberta confirmed that polling is “pointing in the wrong direction” when it comes to how acceptable political violence is.
However, disagreement came between Maher and Shapiro when they started discussing the political leanings of Kirk’s alleged shooting suspect, who was taken into custody earlier on September 12.
“If we are not politically correct, then we understand that if there’s a shooting at a synagogue, it is very likely to be either a white supremacist or a radical Muslim,” Shapiro said. “If it is a shooting of a Republican politician, it is very likely to be a trans, antifa, Marxist shooter.”
“That is just not true,” Maher replied. “We don’t know what this kid is.”
After Shapiro tried to back up his claim, Maher said, “It’s two days out, we don’t know s***, Ben. The internet is undefeated in getting it wrong to begin with.”
Additionally, Maher observed that, based on social media comments he saw, Kirk’s death proved that “people are in such a bubble that they don’t understand that it’s happening on both sides.”
That’s when he boldly declared, “The only way this starts to get better is if both sides admit, ‘OK, let’s not have this debate about who started it. Let’s not debate about who’s worse because, plainly, both sides do it now.’ And the right has done it too. A lot.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO
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