“Ever wondered what Donald Trump is like in real life? Tony Soprano without the introspection,” Bill Maher joked during his monologue on Friday night’s “Real Time” on HBO.
The comment came as he discussed the scandal this week involving Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Prior to that, Maher ran through several other recent news items — including Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s CNN interview.
“He was just sitting there for a very long time without saying anything he did,” Maher said of Walz, later adding, “It was like watching ‘Jeopardy’ when one of the players can’t work the buzzer.”
As for the Arlington Cemetery incident, this week Trump filmed a campaign video there, which happens to be a violation of federal and military laws that prohibit the use of the monument for political purposes. When an employee attempted to enforce this rule, a Trump associate reportedly physically assaulted her.
The employee filed a report with the Army, which oversees the monument, but ultimately chose not to press charges because she feared retaliation by Trump’s supporters.
The Army confirmed all of this, saying in a statement, “This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”
Maher said in his monologue that he supports the restrictions. “There’s a law, as there should be, at Arlington National Cemetery, where our bravest and greatest are buried, that you can’t take pictures.”
“You can’t use it as a campaign prop,” Maher continued. “I mean, it’s like when homeless people started to f–k in libraries. You didn’t think there should be a law about it, but you have to. Sometimes you just need a law.”
“So of course, when Trump heard this, he was like, ‘the laws, right?’ And they told him to stop. And he was furious. He said, ‘You are ruining a perfectly good exploitation of a tragedy.’”
“Then he grabbed some flowers off someone’s grave and said, ‘Send these to Melania,’” Maher continued.
“When the park people told him to stop, he just shoved them aside. His goons just shoved her,” Maher added. “Ever wondered what Donald Trump is like in real life? Tony Soprano, without the introspection.”
