‘Don’t Give Me Bullshit!’ Maher and Gaetz Get Heated Over GOP Election Hypocrisy: ‘I’ll Think You’re a Hack’
Bill Maher and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) got into it over President Donald Trump and Republicans on the subject of elections and the effort to overturn the 2020 election result in a podcast interview released on Sunday.
During the latest episode of Maher’s Club Random, former Florida Rep. and ex-Trump administration nominee Gaetz joined the comic and pundit for a long conversation, during which they discussed Trump’s inauguration, peaceful transfers of power, and the rather less than peaceful 2020 handover to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Maher said that there’s a difference between Democrats calling Trump an “illegitimate president” and the Republican 2020 efforts to overturn the results of the election, including the January 6th attempt not to certify the result and the concurrent rioting and violence.
The conversation became heated when Gaetz tried to push back on Maher claiming hypocrisy by Republicans who now object to Democrats referring to Trump as “not a legitimate president.”
GAETZ: If you’re talking about the use of force to achieve your political goals, I think I think it’s somewhat on topic.
MAHER: And it’s not like the left doesn’t do a version. I mean, they should not have been bitching about Trump is not a legitimate president. That was wrong. I agree. It’s very different than actually trying to stay in power. We just had January 6th. It went off smoothly without a hitch. Places, everyone, places. Okay, The rehearsal went great, and now we do it and we go home. That’s not would have happened if you guys had lost. And you know that… that is asymmetry you have to address.
GAETZ: Okay. Let me address it. You’re right. This past week we had a wonderful January 6th, the last time we had a Republican president elected and Democrats did not object to the electors — do you know the last time that was?
MAHER: This is the kind of bullshit–
GAETZ: Well, look, it was 1988. It was 1988. The last time they didn’t object to a vote. They objected to George W Bush winning Ohio.
MAHER: Objecting is different than calling the Justice Department and pressuring them to do things that even his own Justice Department wouldn’t do. It’s different than calling the guy in Georgia and saying, Find me 11,000 votes. It’s different than going to court with all these ridiculous cases that were left out of every courtroom. It’s different than actually sending fake electors. Don’t give me bullshit and we’ll be friends! Bullshit me? No, we’ll still be friends. But then I’ll think you’re a hack instead of someone who could actually have an honest conversation and admit this asymmetry exists.
GAETZ: I don’t believe it’s asymmetrical at all. When you look at the way the Democratic Party used an authoritarian bum rush to get Joe Biden out of the race and replace him with with Harris, what was it? Was that was that the great sacrifice to the virtue of democracy and the great rejection of authoritarianism? Was swapping her out for him like in some Mississippi square dance?
MAHER: I’m just going to end this part of our discussion by saying, you know, I think you’re just looking in your eye, talking to you, not the media guy I saw. You’re a lot brighter than I thought you were.
Watch the clip above via Club Random on YouTube.
