Bill Maher‘s opening monologue on his HBO show “Real Time” played like the greatest hits in this week’s news, with the American airstrikes against Syria, the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and the sexual harassment scandal currently derailing Fox News Host Bill O’Reilly all taking a hit from the liberal comedian.
“Republicans got their favorite thing… a right wing a–hole on the Supreme Court and Trump finally blowing some sh-t up,” said Maher at the start of his opener Friday night.
Maher also noted that though pundits and Republicans alike have pointed out that Obama didn’t bomb Syria after a 2013 chemical attack, the reason is that the former President sought congressional approval for military action… and was denied. But, said Maher, Trump ordering airstrikes without congressional approval “is different because Obama was President — that would have involved bombing while black.”
Syrian ally – Russian – and their widely assumed meddling in the 2016 U.S. election on behalf of now-President Trump has caused some rather awkward subtext to the military action, Maher believes. “This is tricky for Trump,” he said, because “Russia does not want us bombing there. If Trump does the wrong thing, Putin might not reelect him.”
It was a monologue full of cheap — but satisfying (for Trump opponents) — shots at the expense of Republicans. Maher compared being in favor of the Syrian strikes but against allowing their refugees into the United States to being anti-abortion and also against programs to help poor parents.
Then he turned his attention to Bill O’Reilly, currently in the middle of a serious scandal following revelations that Fox News had paid out $13 million in settlements from sexual harassment claims against O’Reilly. O’Reilly, said Maher, was so excited about the Syrian airstrikes that “he groped himself.”
About O’Reilly’s harassment scandal, Maher noted that though the various claims made by women against O’Reilly differ, “the one constant is that no one wants to f–k Bill O’Reilly.”
“Whether he’s offering you a job or threatening you, it’s never worth it to f–k Bill O’Reilly,” Maher concluded.