Bill Maher Rips Media for ‘Mischaracterizing’ Charlie Kirk

Bill Maher said he is happy he got to speak to conservative activist Charlie Kirk before he was murdered, in large part because the media “mischaracterized” what the Turning Point USA founder actually believed.

“I liked him as a person. I’m glad I talked to him,” Maher said on the Monday episode of his Club Random podcast. “I do not think he was a monster.”

Maher said the mainstream press routinely warps what public figures like Kirk have said.

“If you look at his statements — I’ve read the full statements, of course, because everybody is only interested in getting points for their team, they mischaracterized them,” Maher said.

“But even when I read the full statement, which were accurately characterized, I still disagreed with them,” he chuckled. “But it wasn’t what they presented. Again, it’s always in the middle. It wasn’t as bad as they said, but I still disagreed.”

Comic Jeff Dunham, his guest on the episode, then said he loved Maher’s Club Random interview with Kirk last year because it was friendly, even though they disagreed on key issues. Kirk was killed about five months after their conversation.

Maher went on to say he has had similar experiences with other conservatives who come on his shows.

“Anna Paulina Luna — love her!” Maher said. “We had a great time, I was like, ‘If I’d only known about you what I’d read, I would have thought [you were] crazy. You’re not crazy!'”

He added Republicans are “better” at having conversations with those they disagree with politically.

A moment earlier in the show, Maher revealed he was going to be interviewed for an upcoming documentary on Kirk. He said he is the only person who is not a “hard right-winger” who will be in it, and that he did not offer a “hagiography” of the late conservative activist.

Watch above.

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