Bill Maher praised the political right for its willingness to engage across ideological lines during his latest episode of Club Random, posted Monday.
The discussion came days after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University, where he had been engaging in debate with students. Maher pointed out that Kirk had even appeared on his podcast despite their disagreements, a trait he said reflected a broader right-wing tendency.
“Charlie Kirk was a guy who was always talking. And I talked to him here. The right-wingers, say what you want about them, but they talk to you,” Maher said. “The left really has much more of a ‘I don’t talk to you, I don’t want to deal with you, you’re deplorable, I can’t break bread with you,’ that attitude. All the right-wingers, they don’t have that attitude.”
Maher added that Kirk wasn’t the caricature often painted by critics. “Charlie Kirk and I certainly don’t agree on much politically. But he sat here, he’s a human being, he’s not a monster … I liked him. I like them all. They’re all nice people when you meet them in person. And nobody’s as crazy as they make them out to be.”
Kirk appeared on Club Random in April, where he and Maher agreed that Democrats would continue to struggle electorally if they refused to oppose biological males competing in women’s sports. Kirk even credited Maher for “being a liberal that acknowledges male-female distinctions.”
“Of all the low-lying fruit that the Democrats just like hand the Republicans to win elections, that’s the one,” Maher said. Kirk joked in response, “Are they really going to just let us win every national election on this no men in female sports thing? Like, they can’t surrender on this one issue.”
That debate has strong backing among the public. A January New York Times/Ipsos poll found roughly 80% of Americans opposed biological men competing in women’s sports. “It’s so ridiculous,” Maher said with a laugh.
Kirk also appeared on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast in March. When pressed on the issue, Newsom agreed with him. “I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that,” Newsom admitted. “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”
Earlier in Monday’s episode, Maher blasted those who dismissed Kirk’s death simply because of politics. “[I]f you’re on the other side of the political divide and you don’t care because the wrong team guy got shot, fuck you!” he said. “You’re what’s wrong with this country.”