In a letter to White House chief of staff Jack Lew, Concerned Women for America CEO and president Penny Nance urges President Obama and his staff to distance itself from liberal pundit Bill Maher. Maher has a history of making inappropriate comments about female politicians, famously directing them at Republican women, especially Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin.
But it’s Maher’s recent association with Obama’s campaign effort that is now under fire.
As the super PAC aligned with Obama announced recently, “Bill Maher pledged ONE MILLION DOLLARS to us at Priorities USA Action.” Additionally, close Obama adviser David Axelrod is reportedly planning to go on Maher’s television show in the near future.
Nance writes in her letter, “Mr. Obama needs to publicly dissociate himself from Priorities USA and cease all further fundraising in support of the organization, until they return Mr. Maher’s contribution immediately.”
Nance says that “Maher is a serially vile misogynist” and that his association undermines the president’s commitment to have a “public discourse” worthy of his daughters—as Obama said at a press conference on Tuesday, “I want [my daughters] to be able to speak their mind in a civil and thoughtful way. And I don’t want them attacked or called horribly names because they’re being good citizens.”
The letter cites this Daily Beast report, which outlines Maher’s misogyny:
The Concerned Women for America says that it represents one million women across the nation.
