Bill Maher Claims Democrats Deserve Blame for George Santos Too, Says Republican Appealed to Party’s Love for ‘Victimhood’ and ‘Identity Politics’
Bill Maher claimed on his first show of 2023 that Democrats carry as much blame for Rep. George Santos (R-NY) as Republicans, theorizing the controversial congressman duped both sides effectively thanks to the “tribalism” of modern politics.
Covering Santos on Real Time, Maher highlighted some of the more egregious lies from the Republican. Santos has been accused of everything from lying about his work history to his charity work. He’s also denied being a drag queen after images surfaced appearing to show the Republican crossdressing.
Maher said Santos made it all the way to the House of Representatives because he capitalized on people’s media bubbles and catered to both sides, knowing he’d be accepted if he just told the right lies.
The Santos lies about being a Wall Street star and his vocal support of Donald Trump’s election fraud conspiracy theories appealed to “far-right Republicans,” Maher said, but the politician also played Democrats with his lies, winning a typically blue district in the midterms.
Maher said:
“The giveaway here is that Santos’ district is Long Island, New York, suburb of Manhattan, not as liberal, but almost always went Democratic. Biden won it by eight points, so how did a Trump loving, election denying, and white nationalist get elected in a Democrat-leaning district? Simple. He told them what they wanted to hear too. What do liberals love? Identity politcs and victimhood, so he said he had a brain tumor and he was one of the first New Yorkers hospitalized for Covid. He said he lost four coworkers in the famous Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016. He’s from Brazil, which is overwhelmingly Catholic, but when he ran in New York, he said he was Jewish and in fact his grandparents fled Ukraine to escape the Nazis. That’s right. His Jewish, Ukrainian forefathers escaped the Holocaust by being born Catholic in Brazil.”
Santos, Maher argued, knew the “sweet spot” with Democrats.
“Nobody cares anymore about substance. It’s all tribalism. The only thing that matters is: is he on our team? Is he doing our schtick?” Maher said.
The comedian accused Santos of juggling two schticks, one for each major party.
“Republicans love a winner and Democrats love someone whose life story makes you want to kill yourself,” Maher said.
Watch above via HBO.
