According to HBO’s Bill Maher, election denial is something Republicans do. Fortunately, Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham was also present on Friday’s edition of Real Time to point out Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is doing that right now. An unhappy Maher could only rant that “no one gives a fuck” about Casey because he is just a senator.
Maher lamented, “What I'm asking is you know that if Trump had lost the election, right now we would be talking about the votes that are still coming in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and he’d be in the courts, and we would be all in a tither. One side accepts election losses and one side doesn't. This asymmetry cannot continue.”
As Maher was doing his spiel, Ham tried to get a word in, “Wait, wait. Hold on,” but Maher rolled along, “And the people who are defending him cannot just look past it like ‘well, we won the election, that's it.’”
Ham tried to correct the record, “Currently, hold on, Bob Casey, Democratic senator in Pennsylvania, is doing exactly what you're saying where he's looking for all these votes in trying to—in Bucks County commissioners are saying we need fake ones, we need to get all the ones that are unregistered—”
Maher interrupted to voice his displeasure, “No, they’re just counting them,” to which Ham replied, “No, that's not actually true.”
After the duo repeated their respective stances, Ham got back on track, “And if you dismiss that and you don’t recognize the mote in your own eye, then that is a problem.”
Maher interrupted again, “So, you're saying Bob Casey in this— that's equivalent to Trump in 2020—”
Ham tried to argue that’s not the point, “No, I don’t say they’re equivalent, I say that you have to recognize these things happen, for instance, in 2016, in 2000.”
An upset Maher replied, “No, they didn't. No, they didn't.”
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia had the viral quote when she declared her intention to thumb her nose at the Democratic-controlled state supreme court, “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws anytime they want. So for me, if I violate this law, it’s because I want a court to pay attention to it.”
If a Republican commissioner did that, it’d be a national news story. With that in mind, Ham told Maher, “I do not think it's as asymmetrical as you say, and I also –”
Cutting her off, Maher ranted, “Well, on the presidential level it is. Okay, Bob Casey, no one gives a fuck or even knows who he is.“
As the audience laughed, Ham chuckled, “I mean, that was part of the problem.”
Maher, however, continued, “It's a ridiculous argument. It doesn't matter to anything, we're talking about the United States of America and who gets to run it and who gets to appoint everybody. Let's go on to that because I know I'm never going to make any progress here.”
Before that, Ham insisted on getting the last word, “I do want to say I have some standing because a family member of mine, my husband, was at the Capitol escorting people back in to make the vote, like, he did the dangerous thing he put himself on the line. I feel like our family had a stake in this, and it was a terrible day and a scary day, and also we put it to the voters and had that conversation.”
Ironically, Maher wanted to move on and talk about appointments, but those nominees are voted on by the Senate, the exact kind of people Maher just claimed nobody cares about.
Here is a transcript for the November 15 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
11/15/2024
10:20 PM ET
BILL MAHER: What I'm asking is you know that if Trump had lost the election, right now we would be talking about the votes that are still coming in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and he’d be in the courts, and we would be all in a tither. One side accepts election losses and one side doesn't. This asymmetry cannot continue.
MARY KATHARINE HAM: Wait, wait. Hold on.
MAHER: And the people who are defending him cannot just look past it like “well, we won the election, that's it.”
HAM: Currently, hold on, Bob Casey, Democratic senator in Pennsylvania, is doing exactly what you're saying where he's looking for all these votes in trying to—in Bucks County commissioners are saying we need fake ones, we need to get all the ones that are unregistered—
MAHER: No, they’re just counting them.
HAM: No, that's not actually true.
MAHER: They’re just counting them
HAM: That's not actually true—
MAHER: It is.
HAM: And if you dismiss that and you don’t recognize the mote in your own eye, then that is a problem.
MAHER: So, you're saying Bob Casey in this— that's equivalent to Trump in 2020—
HAM: No, I don’t say they’re equivalent, I say that you have to recognize these things happen, for instance, in 2016, in 2000.
MAHER: No, they didn't. No, they didn't.
…
HAM: I do not think it's as asymmetrical as you say, and I also –
MAHER: Well, on the presidential level it is. Okay, Bob Casey, no one gives a fuck or even knows who he is.
HAM: I mean, that was part of the problem.
MAHER: It's a ridiculous argument. It doesn't matter to anything, we're talking about the United States of America and who gets to run it and who gets to appoint everybody. Let's go on to that because I know I'm never going to make any progress here.
HAM: Well, I do want to say I have some standing because a family member of mine, my husband, was at the Capitol escorting people back in to make the vote, like, he did the dangerous thing he put himself on the line. I feel like our family had a stake in this, and it was a terrible day and a scary day, and also we put it to the voters and had that conversation.
