Bill Maher may have given Bernie Sanders the best endorsement so far in the 2016 presidential cycle.
During a discussion on his HBO show “Real Time With Bill Maher,” MSNBC analyst Alex Wagner asked whether Maher believed the Vermont senator has what it takes to be commander-in-chief.
Maher shot back, “Fuck, yeah! The guy who voted right on the Iraq war? Yeah, I do.”
“Doesn’t Bernie deserve this?” Maher asked. “He has proved I think at this point that this is a year when anything can happen. I think the rules are out the window until proven otherwise.”
In an interview earlier in the week, Maher took aim at GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz, saying the Texas senator is more dangerous than his rival Donald Trump.
“It’s high intelligence in the service of evil,” Maher told The Daily Beast Thursday. “It’s one thing to have evil people who aren’t that bright! There’s a reason why everyone hates Ted Cruz,” he said.
Maher also accused Cruz of cheating his way to an Iowa win last week.
“Now, to be fair, Donald Trump does have kind of a point — Ted Cruz did cheat,” said Maher. “He put out a press release and had his precinct captains call all over saying Ben Carson, the other evangelical in the race, was dropping out to trick his voters — as Jesus would do. And it worked!”
Cruz’s campaign sent out what some have called shady mailers designed to look like official state government documents to thousands of Iowa voters. Cruz’s team also told voters that retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was suspending his campaign in an apparent effort to get Carson voters to caucus for Cruz instead.
“Cruz is scarier than Donald Trump,” Maher said. “Trump, despite some of the crazy things he says and some of the disgusting things he says, he also says some things that a liberal can love.”
Watch the video above.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article identified Alex Wagner as Alex Morgan. TheWrap regrets the error.