Liberal comic Bill Maher appeared on Monday's The View and was touted by the hosts as the "kind of guest we like around here because he will tear into any hot topic and he does not hold back.” Unsurprisingly Maher praised the "fantastic" Obama and slammed the "racist" Tea Party.
The hosts tossed Maher questions about guns, Hillary Clinton, PETA, and President Obama’s job performance and he offered his typical left-wing rhetoric. Among other things Maher touted himself as more "empathetic” than Liam Neeson and agreed with Whoopi Goldberg that Democrats running from ObamaCare are "punks."
The ladies pressed Bill Maher on his recent video for PETA which supports getting rid of horse carriage rides in New York City. Guest co-host Carolina Bermudez asked Maher about Liam Neeson’s opposing opinion on the topic and asked if Neeson is also "entitled to his own opinion" to which Maher quipped, "Everyone's entitled to their opinions. I have a very special set of skills. I have empathy."
But Maher didn’t seem open to Neeson’s comments last week when he told Neeson to "shut up." Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd reminded Maher that a majority of people disagree with his stance. Goldberg even offered to show Maher the stables so he could see that the horses aren’t being mistreated. Maher was not interested because "someday people will have the same sort of empathy and feeling for animals that they have for other human beings."
Fellow liberal and Obama supporter, Greg Anthony asked Bill Maher how he thought President Obama has done amid all the controversies and scandals surrounding his administration. In a word, Maher replied, "fantastic."
He then continued on a diatribe about how convenient it is that “99.999 percent of the Tea Party is white and the president that drives them insane is black.” So clearly, "they’re racist." He claimed that the President has had to deal with things "no other president has had to deal with." Maher touted the president as “no drama Obama” for getting America through an “economic tire fire” left behind by George Bush.
He accused Republicans like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly for having an "in your face, in your space disrespect" for the President. Maher finished by asking why Democrats are running away from ObamaCare when Goldberg chipped in and called them "punks" which Maher agreed with stating, "You gave people healthcare, not herpes. Own it."
It’s no secret that Bill Maher is one of President Obama’s biggest cheerleaders and facts about the economy are irrelevant to the HBO host. For someone who claims to have "empathy," Maher isn’t known for his empathy towards Republicans as NewsBusters as carefully documented.
The relevant portion is transcribed below:
ABC
The View
June 23, 2014
11:37 a.m. EasternCAROLINA BERMUDEZ: Okay. Let's talk about the new PETA video that came out. You slammed Liam Neeson. You slammed him for supporting the horse carriage business in New York City. You slammed him. You stated your opinion. Don't you think he's entitled to his opinion?
BILL MAHER: He's entitled. Everyone's entitled to their opinions. I have a very special set of skills. I have empathy.
SHERRI SHEPHERD: There's a lot of people out in New York who love those carriage rides. It was very -- unpopular -- your opinion, because they felt they're being taken care of. Not being harmed in any way, form or fashion. And you don't live here.
BILL MAHER: Listen to me, do they bleep here [ muted ] First of all do they talk? Is one of them Mr. Ed? Has he said to you, I feel great?
SHEPHERD: Do you know horses where you can you tell if they're mistreated?
BILL MAHER: Have you ever seen a horse in the wild?
SHEPHERD: I've never seen a horse in the wild.
MAHER: Okay. They're not crapping in a bucket.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Neither are they. They're crapping in the street.
BERMUDEZ: You were invited to see stables? Have you ever thought about doing that?
MAHER: I don't need to see the stables, I see them across the street from my hotel.
GOLDBERG: So you're not mad at the Amish?
MAHER: Why? Because they are still using the horses?
GOLDBERG: They're using horses as beast of burden.
MAHER: I have other issues with the Amish. Yes. It's the 21st century. Not that you would know by going to the Amish country. But, I feel this way about any animal that's being tortured like that. All you have to do is look across the street.
GOLDBERG: I will say this to you, because I know you don't like to be around them. But you might want to take -- ten years ago when we had the biggest issue with the horse that got away and hurt people and did all that kind of stuff. They got very, very -- the word of god given to them and the strictness that they have to deal under may be a little bit
different than what you remember. So, maybe we should -- maybe you -- you and I should go over.MAHER: Someday. Someday people will, I think, have the same sort of empathy and feeling for animals that they have for other human beings. Let's be honest. A lot of people don't have it for their human beings.
[...]
GREG ANTHONY: As a liberal, our president, had a difficult stretch here. You know, we had the issue with the health care. We got a new crisis in Iraq, and the economy is still not doing well. How do you feel about the job he's doing?
MAHER: He's done fantastic. People are -- first of all -- You know, first of all, he had to deal with things no other president has ever had to deal with. It's true. I know the tea party hates hearing that. They're racist, because 99.999% of them are white and the president who drives them insane is black is just a coincidence. I'm sorry, nobody had to deal with what he has to deal with. I never saw -- I never saw a governor stick the finger in a president's face like the governor of Arizona did. I never saw a president heckled at the State of the Union like he was. I never saw Bill O'Reilly interrupt a president like he has. There's a in your face, in your space, disrespect going on there. Of course, his plate is so full. It's funny the way he seems to get things. I was always on his case about the environment. He seems to be finally getting around to that. You can't do everything at once. He first of all, you know, had to save the economy when he came into office. People forget Bush left him a tire fire for an economy. We were losing 750,000 jobs a month. This place was going into hell in a hand cart, but no-drama Obama calmly got through that. Healthcare. Every president tried to do that. Why are the democrats running away from that?
GOLDBERG: Because they're punks.
MAHER: They are punks. You gave people health care. Not herpes, own it.
