Bill Maher tells Major Garrett to ‘scream the N-word’ to get Obama’s attention

HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher was so upset with CBS White House reporter Major Garrett’s question for President Obama on Wednesday that he said screaming “the N-word” would have been more appropriate.

“As you well know there are four Americans in Iran. Three held on trumped-up charges, according to your administration, and one whereabouts unknown,” said Maj. Garrett. “Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content with all the fanfare around this [nuclear] deal to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation, unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans?”

Mr. Obama bristled at the framing of the question before telling Maj. Garrett he “should know better.” The CBS reporter later said that he must have “struck a nerve,” Breitbart reported.

Comedian Bill Maher then insinuated early Thursday morning that there were racial motivations behind cornering the president into a discussion on the Iranian detentions of pastor Saeed Abedini, retired U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, and Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian, The Washington Examiner reported.

“MajorGarrett is a huge [expletive]. If U [sic] wanna ’strike a nerve’ with POTUS, why not just scream the N-word? That shld [sic] get his attention,” Mr. Maher tweeted.

“Was it provocative? Yes. Was it intended to be as such? Absolutely,” said Maj. Garrett on Wednesday, Breitbart reported.