Bill Maher said on the online “Overtime” segment of HBO’s “Real Time” that pursuing President Donald Trump over self-dealing “is not going to affect anything in people’s lives,” even though he agrees the conduct is wrong.
Maher framed the issue as a difficult choice. “[I]t is a bit of a Hobson’s choice, is it not, when crimes are committed? Yes, you don’t want to look like you’re engaging in lawfare. On the other hand, you kind of just can’t let them go on unpunished,” he said.
He noted that polling shows corruption ranks as the top issue for voters, but said it is tied closely to concerns about household finances.
“Parnas Perspective” host Aaron Parnas pushed back, arguing there is a direct link between accountability for the wealthy and affordability for everyone else. “When you hold the wealthiest in our country accountable, you will make life more affordable. That is just the fact,” Parnas said.
Maher asked him to clarify what he meant. “Well, that’s vague. What do you mean hold the wealthy — you’re not saying that the wealthy don’t pay a lot of taxes?” he said.
Parnas responded, “I mean the tech oligarchs. I mean the wealthy in the President’s Cabinet who have engaged in massive amounts of corruption over the past 18 months, enriching themselves over — through the presidency.”
Maher returned to his original point, citing estimates of Trump’s wealth growth in office. “But that kind of — it’s wrong, don’t get me wrong, but that kind of money, they say Trump is worth like 3 billion more than when he — $3 billion is not going to affect anything in people’s lives. It doesn’t make it any less wrong, but let’s not pretend that that is going to affect people’s lives,” he said. He added, “If you took all of Elon’s $1 trillion away, would that even — would even that affect a lot of people?”
