On the September 9 Charlie Rose show Bill Maher pronounced that Barack Obama “will be treated in history very kindly” because future generations will realize “he’s dealing obviously with things that no other president had to ever deal with.”
When Rose asked Maher if he meant the bad economy and ISIS Maher agreed and then added that because Obama is black his political opponents “hate him in a way they never hated before.”
Maher then explained his political foes like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Fox New’s Bill O’Reilly would: “never recognize it or admit it, but it is that. There’s a certain in your face, in your space disrespect that this president has had to put up with. Like being hackled at the State of the Union or the governor of Arizona when she stuck her finger in his face or when Bill O’Reilly interviews him and he interrupts him every two seconds. You don’t do that to a president.”
Later in the show Maher praised Obama for his calmness in the face of his opposition, to which Rose added: “he seems to sort of float above it”:
BILL MAHER: I think that Obama’s greatest quality has been calm. I think he’s the calmest president we have ever had. You know, he drives them nuts. They don’t drive him nuts.
CHARLIE ROSE: No, that’s true. He seems not to. I mean he seems to sort of float above it.
Since Rose and Maher agreed that Obama was doing a good job, Rose wondered why Obama was doing so badly in the polls? To which Maher replied: “Because people are dummies. They don’t know what’s going on.”
The following is a transcript of the conversation as it was aired on the September 9 edition of PBS’s Charlie Rose show:
BILL MAHER: But as far as Obama goes, you know, I think he will be treated in history very kindly.
CHARLIE ROSE: Do you really?
MAHER: Absolutely. Every president, of course, at the time, and he’s dealing obviously with things that no other president had to ever deal with.
CHARLIE ROSE: First the economy and now...
MAHER: Right.
ROSE: ...ISIS.
MAHER: And the first black president. They hate him in a way they never hated before.
ROSE: How much of it do you think is that?
MAHER: A considerable amount. They’ll never recognize it or admit it, but it is that. There’s a certain in your face, in your space disrespect that this president has had to put up with. Like being hackled at the State of the Union or the governor of Arizona when she stuck her finger in his face or when Bill O’Reilly interviews him and he interrupts him every two seconds. You don’t do that to a president. And they just hate him from the get-go, you know. But okay-
ROSE: Some of it is race, but not all of it, is my point.
MAHER: Of course, not all. Absolutely. They were awful to Clinton, too.
ROSE: Exactly.
MAHER: And he was the first black president as we know.
ROSE: Thank you Toni Morrison.
MAHER: But I do - yeah, I do think that, you know, history will be kind to him because, again, as you were starting to say, the economy was horrible when he took or we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. The automobile industry, which obviously Mitt Romney and other Republicans wanted to let die on the vine. I mean just think of the psychological effect if General Motors had gone under. Forget the economic effect. I think that Obama’s greatest quality has been calm. I think he’s the calmest president we have ever had. You know, he drives them nuts. They don’t drive him nuts.
ROSE: No, that’s true. He seems not to. I mean he seems to sort of float above it.
MAHER: He does what he’s going to do. He works on his own timetable. He never lets them rush him. He’s, you know, ‘I don’t work on the 24 hour clock’ he tells the media. ‘I don’t work on the Republican clock with foreign affairs. I do it.’
No, are there things that I would like for him to have done better, sooner, quicker, more? Yes. I would love it if his economic policy was more like Elizabeth Warren’s.
ROSE: You like her.
MAHER: Love her. Absolutely! Wish she would run.
CHARLIE ROSE: Yeah? Do you wish she would run against Hillary?
MAHER: Oh, yes. Yes, absolutely. She would be absolutely my preference above Hillary. But I understand that the president has so many things on his plate. He does seem to get to them. You know, I mean gay marriage, he got to it. You know, pot, I’m hopeful he is gonna get to that.
ROSE: It’s a good country, isn’t it?
MAHER: The environment he somehow is both the most accomplished president on the environment and still falls way short. But that’s that kind of issue, it’s that big.
ROSE: And could - when you look at his - why do you think the popularity is so low though? This is not just - it’s in his own party.
MAHER: Because people are dummies. They don’t know what’s going on. They don’t know what he’s -
ROSE: See that, there you go. Blaming the public.
MAHER: I should blame the public, we all should. They are idiots. Look at the polling. Look at things they believe.
ROSE: The public are idiots?
MAHER: They are absolute idiots. They have no idea. Like I said they don’t even know if they’re liberal or conservative. They don’t even know who controls the House.
ROSE: Bill Buckley was famous for this. Would you rather be judged by the first hundred names in the Boston phone book or the Harvard faculty?
MAHER: The Harvard faculty. Absolutely!
ROSE: Buckley would always say I’d rather be judged by the first 100 names in the Boston phone directory than the Harvard faculty.
MAHER: Right. Because Bill Buckley had nothing in common with the Harvard faculty and so much in common with John Q. Public out there. What a lie!
ROSE: Coming from landed gentry in Connecticut.
MAHER: On his yacht, he’s gonna be judged by the hundred names, right.
ROSE: That was just -
MAHER: Silly.
