On his Real Time show on Friday, HBO comedian Bill Maher referred to the U.S. military as a "mass murder machine" as he recalled that the reason he likes Bernie Sanders so much is because the Vermont socialist is the only presidential candidate who would argue against building a bigger military.
A bit earlier, as he discussed with the New Yorker's Lawrence Wright the possibility of Saudi government officials being linked to the 9/11 attacks, Maher also made a crass reference to Tea Party conservatives -- whom he has mocked in the past as "teabaggers" -- by referring to Muslim extremists in Pakistan who want to be able to marry children as "teabaggers" who objected to a "meddling federal government stopping us from marrying children."
At about 10:28 p.m., ET, the liberal comedian raised Sanders's view of the military by bringing up a Fox News special on the terrorist group ISIS and the U.S. military:
For those who say Bernie might be toast at this point, let me just say one last thing if he is, if this is his last stand, why there are so many of us who like Bernie Sanders. I was looking at the Fox News website the other day, and it was promoting a special, Bret Baier, called "Rising Threats, Shrinking Military."
He then added:
Okay, both bulls***. Is ISIS a threat? Yes. But the caliphate will not be extended to Kentucky. People don't read the papers, so they don't know, actually, we are rolling back ISIS. They are losing. And even if they were a threat, they're not the kind of threat that we need to have a bigger military to fight. It's a different kind of threat.
He then took aim at the military for being too big:
And, of course, our military is not shrinking. We have the most ridiculous rock-with-your-c***-out [pauses for audience laughter] -- mass murder machine the world as ever seen. So who, at the debate, would stand up and challenge-
After far-left CNN political commentator Van Jones injected, "And say that? No one," Maher continued:
No, but when Ted Cruz or Donald Trump says we need a bigger military, who is going to challenge them? Hillary Clinton? I don't think so. But Bernie would. [audience applause] Bernie would. That's why we like Bernie Sanders.
Lesley Stahl of CBS's 60 Minutes then branded Hillary Clinton as the "biggest hawk" of all the candidates:
LESLEY STAHL, CBS NEWS: She would not because she's the biggest hawk-
MAHER: Yes, yes.
STAHL: -in the entire lineup of people running.
Earlier in the show, Maher was critical of his fellow liberals who cling to the view that the governments of Muslim countries are more of a problem than the views of the general populations of those countries as he discussed Saudi Arabia:
But, I mean, in general, I feel like Saudi Arabia is the extreme example of the problem many liberals have with Islam in general. You know, it's a little complicated. It's Muslims who are oppressing other Muslims. I think they would like to think that it's governments that are oppressing the people. It's very often the governments who are standing in the way of worse oppression from the people.
He then managed to work in a derisive reference to the Tea Party movement in the U.S. as he added:
Pakistan -- another "frenemy," you know -- Pakistan passed a "no child marriage" law. You can't marry children. Did not go over well with the people. The teabaggers found that to be a meddling federal government getting involved, a meddling federal government stopping us from marrying children. So it's a little tough to decide whose side we're on, right?
