The HBO late-night host Bill Maher said of the late David Koch over the weekend, “F–k him … I’m glad he’s dead.” The liberal comedian was responding to the news that Koch, a well-known libertarian billionaire philanthropist, died Friday after a long battle with prostate cancer. This attack was disgraceful.
I say this even though I generally like Bill Maher. I’ve even been a guest on his show.
Maher is left-leaning, but independent. Notably, he has spoken out against anti-free speech attitudes and policies on college campuses. Yet this latest diatribe shows he’s also a hypocrite. Maher has complained numerous times about the lack of civility in our politics, pointing his finger directly at President Trump. Now he dances on someone’s grave merely because he disagreed with their politics.
“He and his brother have done more than anybody to fund climate science deniers for decades,” Maher said of Koch. “So, f–k him, the Amazon is burning up, I’m glad he’s dead, and I hope the end was painful.”
Unfortunately, Maher wasn’t alone in his classless celebrations. Many liberals celebrated the Koch’s death en masse on social media and elsewhere without hesitation or shame, citing the billionaire’s political beliefs. This is literally the logic of abortion clinic shooters. If you believe Koch deserved to die, and suffer a painful death at that, because his political positions somehow contributed to our planet’s demise, how is that logic different than a deranged pro-lifer who guns down abortion doctors?
Obviously, Koch’s critics didn’t pull any triggers or do the deed themselves, but it’s still disturbing that some on the Left seemed to believe he deserved to suffer for daring to disagree. This logic is dangerous.
Not that uncivil rhetoric is anything new.
When Sen. John McCain passed away last year, some opposed to his hawkish foreign policy and other aspects of his life and career were jubilant about his passing, saying the deaths abroad in unnecessary wars he supported warranted his own demise. But do they really believe McCain’s political positions, however askew they might have been, meant that he deserved to die?
It would certainly be lacking in civility to think so.
Similarly, how many liberals who now in the age of Trump hold the late Arizona senator in such a high esteem for his (somewhat mythical) civility would have gladly danced on McCain’s grave if he had died in the midst of his 2008 presidential campaign against Barack Obama? Probably more leftists would have cheered than are willing to admit today.
Meanwhile, when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent treatment for a malignant tumor last week, some on the Right shamefully cheered her suffering on social media. Bill Maher might — rightfully — find this attitude toward Ginsburg despicable. But after celebrating Koch’s death, he has no standing to say so. In fact, few liberals do right now.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, is one exception. When his fans cheered Koch’s death on Saturday, the senator properly scolded them for it. Kudos to Sanders. We should be able to disagree about politics and maintain our humanity. It’s just a shame Maher can’t offer that same dignity to David Koch.
After all, Koch contributed billions to cancer research, criminal justice reform, the arts, gay rights, protecting civil liberties, and yes, he also donated to many other causes Maher and other liberals might not agree with.
If Maher truly believes those disagreements warrant clinking champagne glasses over a man’s death, that this is the new standard in our politics, well, okay. Many conservatives will no doubt find much to celebrate in the deaths of Hillary Clinton, Obama, and even Maher himself, when they reach their end too.
But I won’t be joining the party. Good people ought to reflect on political opponents’ legacies respectfully without reveling in their deaths.
Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.
