HBO host Bill Maher argued that the “defund the police” motto that has risen amid the George Floyd protests is a poor way to win people over.
Maher, on his show Friday night, acknowledged that the demand to reallocate police funding and “divert it to community service” was a “good idea,” but he said the messaging could turn people to vote for President Trump.
“They’re calling it, ‘Defund the Police,’ which sounds bad!” he stated. “That is so Democrats for you. They must have meetings to be this f—ing stupid about politics. ‘Hey, guys, we’re making some headway here. Um, how can we turn this into something that makes people have to vote for Trump?’”
The protests began last month following the death of Floyd, a black man, after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. The officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been arrested. The demonstrations have sought to raise awareness about systemic racial injustice and police brutality.
The “defund the police” motto has become a rallying cry for the protesters. However, there is no unifying belief regarding what that would look like and how it would be implemented. Some, as Maher mentioned, seek to reallocate funding into other areas, while other, more radical supporters seek to abolish police departments altogether.
