Late-night talk show host Bill Maher came out swinging against Republicans and GOP front-runner Donald Trump Friday night saying conservatives who support Mr. Trump do so because they are racist and hate President Obama.
“We’ve gotten so used to Donald Trump, a candidate that just pulls insane [expletive] out of his [expletive],” he said, claiming that Mr. Trump has lied on the campaign trail when he said the unemployment rate is much higher than the Obama administration has reported.
“I have to say, I know you hate to hear this Republicans, this is just, in their gut they want to feel ’this is what Obama did to America,’ ” Mr. Maher said, Mediaite reported. “I know they don’t think they’re racist, but there is no other explanation for a delusion on this level.”
Republican strategist Anna Navarro stepped in saying it was unfair to accuse Republicans of being racist “when you have two Cuban Americans and a black guy” running for the GOP nomination.
“You’ve got two white people, two old white people on the Democratic side,” Ms. Navarro added, Mediaite reported.
Businessweek journalist Joshua Green jumped in and said Mr. Trump operates on a different playing field than the rest of the candidates.
“Trump articulates an anger, even if he does it without facts, that is landing with Republican voters,” Mr. Green said.
Mr. Maher blamed the media for Mr. Trump’s popularity, saying TV journalists only care about telling an entertaining story and not reporting the facts.
“As much as I hate the politicians, every week when I watch TV, I hate the media more,” Mr. Maher said. “It really is a reality show in the sense that the media acts like reality show producers.”
Mr. Green defended the media, saying journalists report the facts about Mr. Trump and other candidates but “people ignore them and vote for Trump anyway.”
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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