Bill Maher called for 10 people in the Democratic presidential field to drop out after the first 2020 presidential debate.
“Look, there’s too many people in this race,” the host of HBO’s Real Time told his panel on Friday’s show.
“I’m going to get rid of 10 of them right now,” Maher said before listing candidates who need to “get the f–k out.”
Maher’s list of people who needed to leave the Democratic presidential field included: former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, California Rep. Eric Swalwell, spiritual guru Marianne Williamson, tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Not on the list was Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who appeared as a guest on his show that evening and to whom Maher said, “I want you to stick around.”
Maher cracked jokes about the various candidates, saying there were five people with the name “Michael Bennet” more famous than the senator and said Swalwell looked like he was wearing a toupee.
Max Brooks, an actor who is the son of comedy legend Mel Brooks, joked that Williamson, who has gone viral for her eclectic Twitter history, was not supposed to be on the stage. Brooks referred to her as “the crazy, hippie lady.”
“I heard that there were too many Democrats. She snuck through security. She got herself on stage, and Rachel Maddow was just too overwhelmed and didn’t notice,” Brooks said.
MSNBC host Joy Reid objected to Maher’s call for O’Rourke to drop out.
“He reminds my daughter of a youth pastor, so I feel badly to let him go,” Reid said acknowledging that “it’s not going well” for O’Rourke.
“Now we’ve got it down to 10,” Maher said after he threw away a photo of de Blasio.
Maher’s call for Democrats to drop out of the 2020 presidential race comes after the first Democratic presidential debate, a two-night event which featured the 20 candidates who qualified.
Last week, he said Oprah Winfrey is the only ‘sure-thing winner’ against President Trump in 2020.
