Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said in an interview with Chuck Todd on Noosphere that he would be willing to appear on Bill Maher’s show despite what he described as “terrible things” Maher has said about “people like me.”
El-Sayed told Todd that other guests continue to appear on Maher’s program “despite him saying deeply terrible things.” He did not specify what those remarks were, and Todd did not ask him to elaborate.
“I wanna give people the image of watching him get his ass whooped on his own show by a guy who prays like I do,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed said he wanted to show viewers of Maher’s program that many of the host’s positions are “just not viable.” In the same interview, El-Sayed referred to Maher as appearing on Comedy Central; Maher’s show, Politically Incorrect, left that network in late 1996 and moved to ABC until 2002. Maher has hosted “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO since 2003.
Maher responded to El-Sayed’s comments and indicated he would have him on the show. He rejected the framing of El-Sayed’s remark about “people like me,” saying: “It’s not ‘people like you.'”
Maher said his criticism of Islam is about ideas, not about individuals or race. “I have different views on how women should be treated,” Maher said, adding that he hoped a conversation between the two could take place.
El-Sayed is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan. He faced questions at a University of Michigan town hall this year, including from a student who asked him to condemn the Iranian regime; El-Sayed did not directly answer the question at the time.
Whether the two will actually appear together on Maher’s show has not been confirmed by either party.
