Bill Maher have never been a supporter of the Iraq war, but on Friday night he took his disdain to egregious levels, comparing former President George W. Bush to Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro.
The “Real Time with Bill Maher” host and his panel were discussing Bush’s Warrior 100K, an annual bike ride for wounded veterans. Maher said the Memorial Day ride was “nauseating.”
“First he sends them off to war to get their limbs blown off and then he has them over for a barbeque,” he said. “This is like the Cleveland guy having a pizza party for those girls he had in his basement.”
“Maybe that’s a little much,” countered Center for American Progress president Neera Tanden.
One of the show’s panelists, actress Brit Marling, said Maher hadn’t taken it far enough.
“I think it’s sort of sadistic — it’s very tragic when something like that happens,” Marling said. “The idea that, like, these amputees and the technology that’s allowing them to do this is somehow something to celebrate — people shouldn’t be over there losing limbs in the first place.”
James Poulos, of HuffPost Live, said that though he thought the war in Iraq was a “sh**show,” he also thought it was “okay” for Bush and the veterans to be biking together.
Watch Maher’s insulting statement below:
(h/t Mediate)
