Peacock host Mehdi Hasan has accused comedian Bill Maher of “brazen” Islamophobia in a new Daily Beast interview Thursday.
“There is subtle Islamophobia, and I wouldn’t put Bill Maher in the ‘subtle’ category. He’s pretty brazen,” Hasan, who hosts “The Mehdi Hasan Show” on NBC’s streaming platform, said. “This is a guy who says Islam acts like the mafia, and the guy who says stuff like, ‘Muslims bring that desert stuff to the West.’ I mean, that’s not just Islamophobia, that’s old-fashioned racism.”
Hasan, who also serves as a political analyst for MSNBC, was explaining how he sees his religion reflected on television. Maher’s HBO show, “Real Time,” was used an an example of a program “prominent Democrats” still go on in spite of the host’s comments.
“Some people have pushed back at him, but you’ll notice that he never has any kind of ‘mainstream Muslims’ to come on and talk,” he added. “He only has the Muslims who will come on and bash Islam. And he gets away with it. You talk about ‘cancel culture,’ well where is it? Bill Maher still has a very prominent show.”
Hasan said Maher is “still called liberal” and has said “so many things” to offend Muslims, but also “statements that have offended African American communities and other communities.”
A representative for Maher didn’t immediately return a request for comment.