While Bill Maher’s closing monologue on Friday’s edition of Real Time included the usual jabs at President Trump, it also provided Democrats with a reality check. Maher’s commentary focused on “Trump fatigue” and warned that the only thing that can nullify it is an embrace of far-left ideas outside of the mainstream.
Capitalizing on his audience’s disdain for the President, Maher closed his satirical segment “new rules” by declaring that “before summer is over, Donald Trump must give everyone a vacation from himself.” Maher described President Trump’s “salute to America” as “another notch” on his “dictator checklist” and declared that “the majority of Americans aren’t tired of winning, they’re tired of looking at his fat f***ing face.”
After informing the audience that “every incumbent since FDR has won if they avoided a recession leading up to the election year,” Maher expressed disappointment with the “left-wing extremism” that has taken root in the 2020 Democratic presidential field. According to Maher, “All the Democrats have to do to win is to come off less crazy than Trump, and of course they’re blowing it; coming across as unserious people who are going to take away all your money so migrants from Honduras can go to college for free and get a major in America sucks.”
Acting as a Democratic strategist, Maher contended that “The voters that Democrats need to win, moderates who have Trump fatigue, will vote against the good economy, I think, just to get back to normalcy.” He predicted that these swing voters would not trade away the “good economy” for “left-wing extremism.”
Maher did not appear that enthusiastic about supporting Joe Biden but seemed to believe that he had no choice but to support him since he is “the only Democrat who beats Trump in Ohio.” The HBO host went on to compare Biden to “non-dairy creamer,” “nobody loves it, but in a jam, it gets the job done.”
This is hardly the first time Maher has demonstrated skepticism about the current crop of Democratic candidates’ prospects in a general election. Earlier this year, Maher devoted his closing monologue to pleading with talk show host Oprah Winfrey to run for President. Maher joins a long list of left-wingers who have expressed disappointment with the Democratic field; specifically Michael Moore, who has argued that only former First Lady Michelle Obama has what it takes to take down President Trump.
Towards the end of the segment, Maher ripped off a classic slogan from Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign when formulating what he thought the Democrats should use as their slogan this time around: “it’s the fatigue, stupid.” Maher had previously contrasted the concept of left-wing fatigue with President Trump’s campaign strategy; which involves telling people “the communists are coming, sh** yourself.”
Just 15 months remain between now and Election Day 2020. It is unclear whether liberals (especially in the media) will take the normally very unserious Maher seriously or if they will fully embrace the “left-wing extremism” that could prevent them from achieving their dream of defeating President Trump.
A transcript of the relevant portion of Friday’s edition of Real Time is below. Click “expand” to read more.
Real Time With Bill Maher
08/02/19
10:50 PM
BILL MAHER: And finally, new rule. Before summer is over, Donald Trump must give everyone a vacation from himself. You know…
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MAHER: You know, July used to be a happy month for me. It was my down time, a chance to tend my garden and then smoke it.
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: But this July started with tanks in the streets of America; another notch in my dictator checklist. Then came Trump telling four Congresswomen to go back where they came from. You know, Chicksylvania. By the time he got to “no human would want to live in Baltimore,” I got so high, the fire department had to come get me down.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)MAHER: When your vacation leaves you more exhausted than when it started, that’s called “Trump fatigue.” And I’m not the only one who suffers from it: 70 percent of Americans say Trump tweets too much and 70 percent find him unpresidential. That’s the fatigue talking. Even his TV ratings are “failing.” In June, he did a primetime interview on ABC and got only 3.9 million viewers, a sharp drop from Celebrity Family Feud, which got 6.1 million in the same time slot the week before. Sad. Sad. But not sad for Democrats. Fatigue is the best thing we’ve got going for us. The majority of Americans aren’t tired of winning, they’re tired of looking at his fat fucking face. Do you…
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: Do you have any idea how obnoxious you have to come across to have only a 43 percent approval rating when the unemployment rate is under 4? Yeah, it’s hard to beat an incumbent in a good economy. Every incumbent since FDR has won if they avoided a recession leading up to the election year and consumer confidence is sky high. Americans have disposable income. It’s a bullish market. Lobbyists who used to just lease a Congressman are now buying.
(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)
MAHER: The voters that Democrats need to win, moderates who have Trump fatigue, will vote against the good economy, I think, just to get back to normalcy. But they won’t trade it away for left-wing extremism. You say you want a revolution? Well, you know, you got to get elected first.
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: And this election…and this election is about two things: fatigue and fear. We have fatigue, he has fear: fear of socialism, fear of open borders, fear of getting rid of private health insurance, fear of higher taxes. He’s running on, “the communists are coming, shit yourself.” We should run on, “elect me, and we can stop talking about him.”
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MAHER: All the Democrats have to do to win is to come off less crazy than Trump…and, of course, they’re blowing it; coming across as unserious people who are going to take away all your money so migrants from Honduras can go to college for free and get a major in America sucks. Now, do I want Biden to be President? Not really. But Biden’s the only Democrat who beats Trump in Ohio. He’s like non-dairy creamer.
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: Nobody loves it, but in a jam, it gets the job done.
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: I mean…
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MAHER: I…I can’t figure people out, but they just like Joe. Maybe it’s the familiarity. He’s like a McDonald’s when you’re in Europe.
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: I’m sick of hearing that Democrats need to “excite the base.” Trump excites the base! With Obama, the battle cry was “yes, we can!” With Trump, it’s “what the fuck?”
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: He generates the kind of excitement that could put…put the Dalai Lama on Klonopin. It’s the fatigue, stupid. Let’s make it hard for Trump to play on voters’ fears, and let the fatigue win the election for us. We’ll get to the revolution, but remember, put on your oxygen mask before assisting your child. If…
(APPLAUSE)
MAHER: If the Democrats can do that, and win, this country might stop being as divided as it is, because underneath, maybe we’re not so divided. “Old Town Road” just set a record for the most weeks ever at number one, and it’s a black guy rapping a country song. On a horse.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MAHER: And he’s gay.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MAHER: The rapper, not the horse.
(LAUGHTER)
MAHER: Gay country rap. You can’t get a bigger tent than that.
