Maher and Krystal Ball Defend NFL Coach Fined for Defending Jan. 6 Riot as Mere ‘Dust-up’: ‘Not a Crime to Have a Sh***y Take’

Comic and pundit Bill Maher and liberal host Krystal Ball defended Washington Commanders coach Jack Del Rio‘s right to have a “shitty take” about the Jan. 6 riot and the George Floyd protests.

Del Rio was fined $100,000 for saying that the Jan. 6 attack was “a dust-up at the Capitol,” and contrasting it favorably to the unrest over Mr. Floyd’s murder.

On Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host was joined by Krystal Ball and conservative writer James Kerchick, and proceeded to defend Del Rio with an assist from Ball:

BILL MAHER: I have said now for years you can hate Trump. You can’t hate the people who like him because it’s half the country. And I’ll give you an example of where I’m probably with you on something this week. There was a football coach. His name is Jack Del Rio. Okay. And he called the January 6 riot a dust-up. Now, this is a very common view that he has. I would like to, if I could talk to Mr. Del Rio, I think I could probably hopefully convince him a little bit that it was more than a dust-up. He also compares it a lot to the 2020 protests that were going on after the George Floyd murder. Okay.

I think I could also convince him there are really important differences between those two things. And actually, the attack on the Capitol was worse. Nevertheless, he has a right to be wrong. In America, you have the right to be wrong. They fined him, the team fined him, $100,000 for this opinion. Fining people for an opinion. I am not down with that.

And here’s what the coach of the team said. This is his you know, his assistant coach. So his boss said about the guy who got fined, “He does have the right to voice his opinion as a citizen of the United States, and it most certainly is his constitutional right to do so.”

Apparently not! You know what? This is the don’t pee on my shoe and tell me it’s raining. What the fuck are you talking about? He doesn’t have a right to an opinion. And it’s obviously not his right to do so. So either say you’re against free speech, but don’t tell me this.

JAMES KERCHICK: No, it’s absurd. And he should be allowed to express his opinion and people should be allowed to criticize him for it…

KRYSTAL BALL: People can have shitty takes. You know, it’s not a crime to have a shitty take.

BILL MAHER: To have a shitty take is not a crime.

The statement Maher quoted went on to say “However, words have consequences and his words hurt a lot of people in our community. “I want to make it clear that our organization will not tolerate any equivalency between those who demanded justice in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the actions of those on January 6 who sought to topple our government.”

Watch above via HBO.