Bill Maher, who has long called for President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic candidate in this year’s election against Donald Trump, reiterated that stance on Friday’s episode of “Real Time” following Biden’s disastrous performance during Thursday’s presidential debate.
“Joe, he famously loves trains — just not of thought,” said Maher. “Just all night, confused and halting and trailing off. I’ve seen beauty pageant contestants answer questions better. I don’t want to say he shit the bed, but his new Secret Service name is Amber Heard.”
“What should the Democratic Party do?” he asked later on the show. “I advocate for them — and I said it nine months ago, with my editorial called ‘Ruth Bader Biden,’ that he should step down. That’s my position [and] that’s some people’s positions today.”
Maher pointed to a growing chorus of political pundits, plus the editorial board of The New York Times, who have recently pressed Biden to drop out. And while he vowed to vote for Biden’s “head in a jar of blue liquid” if it meant once again defeating Trump, Maher didn’t hold back.
“I feel the whole rationale for Biden running has always been ‘I’m the only guy who can beat [Trump],’” he told his panelists Chris Matthews and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (I-Hawaii). “Now I think it’s inverted. I think he’s the only guy who could lose to him.”
The comedian played a clip from the debate in which Biden was asked about his record on the economy but trailed off incoherently. Maher, who compared the blunder to a knockout from boxer Mike Tyson, said it was the moment he knew “this election is over.”
Matthews argued a Biden victory is essential to protect U.S. democracy and that stepping down is “his decision.” Gabbard, who has expressed interest in being Trump’s running mate, suggested Biden will lose if he maintains Thursday’s stance that climate change is “the only existential threat.”
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu/Getty Images
“This is a guy who has the nuclear codes,” she said, “and yet is not present enough, and is actually insane and so far out of touch with reality, that he doesn’t recognize that the true existential threat … is the fact that we’re closer to nuclear holocaust now than … ever.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly warned earlier this year that he wouldn’t rule out nuclear war if Russian territory is threatened by western allies of Ukraine amidst his ongoing invasion.
Maher also expressed concern about Biden’s post-debate polling. A flash poll from CNN found that 67% of viewers found Trump performed better than Biden. Of those same voters, 55% expected him to do so before the debate began.
“That’s the number you always see … of the people who are just always with their party,” Maher said. “You see it on the right. They used to call them Birthers, Tea Party, MAGA nation, whatever, they never move.”
“And now I feel like that’s a third of the Democrats,” he continued. “They’re going to stick with this guy and they are going to regret it. He is going to lose.”
The second 2024 presidential debate will air live on ABC at 9 p.m. on Sept. 10.