HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher criticized liberals on Friday for “blaming the victim” when it comes to radical Islam.
Speaking with author Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Mr. Maher asked why so many liberals, who normally “hate blaming the victim,” do so when it comes to radical Islam. He cited liberals who criticized the Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland Texas last month, Mediaite reported Friday.
Ms. Hirsi Ali, whose life has been threatened by Islamic radicals, responded that she is not sure why anyone would be an apologist for Islamic extremism. She added that while there are women who do like living under Sharia law, many do not.
“If they like it, they like it. My point is that there are millions who don’t like it. Please don’t pose it on them. Those are the women that I am talking about,” Ms. Hirsi Ali said, Mediaite reported.
Mr. Maher criticized liberals that have argued with him about Islamic culture and rebutted their argument that other Islamic nations like Indonesia and Jordan are “bastions of freedom and democracy.”
“How do we get liberals, and some of them are people that I really used to respect, how do we get them to understand that we are the liberals in this debate? The people who are shining a light on oppression and demanding that it will end, how can that not be the liberal cause?” Mr. Maher asked.
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“I say to them that the cancer of Islamic extremism is an assault on liberalism,” Ms. Hirsi Ali responded.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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